Bicycle spoke injuries in the lower extremity

This study reports the authors' 5-year experience with treating lower extremity injuries in bicycle passengers caused by the spokes. This patient group was selected from 716 lower extremity injuries that received treatment at our outpatient plastic surgery clinic. A total of 26 patients were treated during the study. Patients ranged from 2 to 19 years old, with a mean age of 5.6 years. The authors treated more female passengers (62 percent) than male passengers. The right foot (52 percent) was involved more often than was the left. Most patients were injured in the afternoon, from 2 to 7 PM (62 percent), and between May and October (77 percent). The rear wheel (89 percent) injured the majority of patients. The Achilles tendon was the most common site of injury (63 percent). The typical types of wounds observed included the following: type I, laceration with partial avulsion of skin and subcutaneous tissue (41 percent) and laceration forming a distally based flap (33 percent); type II, abrasions with ecchymoses and friction burn from the shearing effect of the spokes creating a partial- to full-thickness skin defect (26 percent). Of the type I injuries, full-thickness skin lacerations (33 percent) were closed primarily. Partial-thickness skin lacerations, abrasions, ecchymoses, and skin defects (67 percent) were treated conservatively with wound irrigation and dressing. The wound healing time for type I injuries was 29 days; for type II injuries, it was 27 days. These healing times were prolonged compared with healing by first intention. No significant difference was found in healing time when comparing both types of injury. Four patients required hospitalization. No patient required skin grafting. No fractures were noted because these patients were selected from the outpatient plastic surgery clinic and did not include patients from the emergency room. Since the first report of bicycle spoke injuries a half-century ago, prevention has not improved.