Serious injuries related to the Segway® personal transporter: a case series

We describe a case series of emergency department (ED) visits for injuries related to the Segway® personal transporter.

This was a retrospective case review using a free-text search feature of an electronic ED medical record to identify patients arriving April 2005 through November 2008. Data were hand extracted from the record, and further information on admitted patients was obtained from the hospital trauma registry.

Forty-one cases were included. The median age was 50 years, and 30 patients (73.2%) were women. Twenty-nine (70.7%) of the patients resided outside the District of Columbia, Maryland, and Virginia, and 32 (78.1%) arrived between June and September. Seven (17.1%) patients had documented helmet use. Ten (24.4%) were admitted. Four patients (40% of admitted patients) required admission to the ICU.

The severity of trauma in this case series of patients injured by the use of the self-balancing personal transporter is significant. Further investigation into the risks of use, as well as the optimal length and type of training or practice, is warranted. A distinct E-code and Consumer Product Safety Commission's product code is needed to enable further investigation of injury risks for this mode of transportation.