Lacerations most common type of tricycle injury

(HealthDay)—Lacerations are the most common type of tricycle injury in children who present to emergency departments (EDs), and the majority of tricycle injuries occur in boys, according to research published in the October issue of Pediatrics.

Sean Bandzar, of the Medical College of Georgia in Augusta, and colleagues used data from the National Electronic Injury Surveillance System to investigate the characteristics of an estimated 9,340 tricycle injuries treated in United States EDs from 2012 to 2013.

The researchers found that the average age of children who had tricycle injuries was 3 years. The highest frequency of tricycle injuries was in 2-year-olds, and 51.9 percent of all injuries occurred in children aged 1 to 2 years. A majority of the injuries (63.6 percent) occurred in boys. Overall, lacerations were the most common type of injury. In 3- and 5-year-olds, the most common type of injury was internal organ damage. The head was the region most commonly injured and also the region most commonly suffering internal damage. The elbows were the body part most commonly fractured. About 2.4 percent of all children with tricycle-related injuries were admitted to the hospital.

"By elucidating the characteristics of tricycle-related injuries, preventive measures can be implemented to decrease the incidence of tricycle-related injuries and ED visits," the authors write.