Background: We investigated key risk factors for hospital admission related to powered scooters, which are modes of transportation with increasing accessibility across the United States (US).Methods: We queried the National Electronic Injury Surveillance System (NEISS) for injuries related to powered scooters, obtaining US population projections of injuries and hospital admissions. We determined mechanism of injury, characterized injury types, and performed multivariate regression analyses to determine factors associated with hospital admission.Results: One thousand one hundred ninety-one patients sustained electric-motorized scooter (e-scooter) injuries and 10.9% (131) required hospitalization from 2013 to 2018. This extrapolated to a US annual total of 862 (95% CI:745–979) scooter injuries requiring hospitalization, with estimated annual mortality of 6.7 patients per year (95% CI:4.8–8.5). The incidence of hospital admissions increased by an average of 13.1% each year of the study period. Fall (79 [60%]) and motor vehicle collision (33 [25%]) were the most common mechanism. Injury locations included head (44 [34%]), lower extremity (22 [17%]), and lower trunk (16 [12%]). On multivariable analysis, significant factors associated with admission included increased age (OR 1.02, 95% CI:1.01–1.02), torso injuries (OR 6.19, 2.93–13.10), concussion (25.45, 5.88–110.18), fractures (21.98, 7.13–67.66), musculoskeletal injury (6.65, 1.20–36.99), and collision with vehicle (3.343, 2.009–5.562). Scooter speed, seasonality, and gender were not associated with risk of hospitalization.Conclusion: Our findings show increased hospital admissions and mortality from powered scooter trauma, with fall and motor vehicle collisions as the most common mechanisms resulting in hospitalization. This calls for improved rider safety measures and regulation surrounding vehicular collision scenarios.

Background: We aimed to determine the relationship between common preoperative comorbidities and subsequent incidence of postoperative surgical site infections (SSIs) in hand and finger fractures and/or dislocations. Methods: We queried the American College of Surgeons National Safety and Quality Improvement Program from January 1, 2015 to December 31, 2019. Patients were included in our study if they were treated by open or percutaneous fixation for any hand or finger fracture and/or dislocation. Predictor variables were smoking status, diabetes mellitus status, and obesity (body mass index > 30) status. Primary outcome was incidence of postoperative SSI. Results: There were a total of 9245 patients included in our study, and 148 patients (1.6%) experienced postoperative SSI. Of these, 59 patients (39.9%) were only smokers, 7 patients (4.7%) only had diabetes mellitus, and 55 patients (37.2%) were only obese. Overall, patients experienced greater odds of sustaining a postoperative SSI if they were a smoker or diabetic compared to non-smokers and non-diabetics, respectively. Considering only open fixation modality, patients with comorbidities were not at significantly increased odds of sustaining postoperative SSI. Considering only percutaneous fixation modality, patients experienced significantly greater odds of sustaining postoperative SSI if they were a smoker compared to non-smoker. Conclusions: Common preoperative comorbidities, including smoking status and diabetes mellitus, increase the likelihood of postoperative complication in patients with hand and finger fractures and/or dislocations undergoing surgical treatment. Further investigation into the different relationship of these comorbidities between open and closed fractures with larger sample sizes will be valuable.

Introduction: We aimed to investigate and compare the 30-day postsurgical complication rates and total operative times for hand or wrist flexor tendon injury repair procedures. Methods: We performed a retrospective cohort analysis of the American College of Surgeon National Quality Improvement Program database between 2015 and 2019. Patients were included in our study if they were 18 years or older and underwent surgical repair of a wrist or hand flexor tendon by a plastic surgeon, general surgeon, or orthopedic surgeon. Primary endpoint of the study was 30-day postsurgical complications. Secondary endpoint included subcategory analysis of 30-day postsurgical complications. Another variable of interest included total operative time. Results: There were 2614 surgeries performed for wrist or hand flexor tendon injury repair during the 5-year period. Orthopedic surgeons performed the majority of the operations (1548, 59.2%). Repair or advancement of the flexor tendon zone 2 without grafts (1284, 49.1%) were the most common surgeries performed. Overall surgical site complication rate was 2%, with no significant associations between the complication and the surgical specialty performing the operation. A significant difference in total operative time between surgical specialties was only found in single flexor tendon repairs ( P < .001). Conclusions: Surgical repair for hand and wrist flexor tendon injury is a safe surgical procedure with a low short-term postoperative complication rate. Despite variations in training, complications remain similar between specialties for flexor tendon repairs.