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This study sought to highlight associated factors and evaluate outcomes of motorcycle-related injuries (MCRI) among adults managed in a university teaching hospital in south-western Nigeria. The study was a cross-sectional descriptive study of 150 adult patients presenting with MCRI at the adult accident and emergency unit of the hospital. Information on the use of helmet, alcohol intake, number of pillion passengers, type of collision and time of arrival at hospital was collected. Patients were followed up and questionnaires were completed after discharge, referral or death. The male to female ratio was 4:1 with patients aged 20-29 years (n = 44, 29.3%) having the highest incidence of MCRI. Only 4 (2.7%) patients used helmet at the time of injury. About one-third of the patients (n = 59, 39.3%) arrived at the hospital within 1-6 hours after injury. The limbs were the most frequently involved site of injury, hence orthopaedic procedures constituted the highest number of interventions. Mortality rate was 10.7% (16 out of 150) with head injury being the leading cause. MCRI requires more emphasis on preventive measures. This will play a crucial role in the reduction of the associated morbidity and mortality.

Pre-hospital care in developing worlds has been found to be grossly deficient compared to high income countries. The pre-hospital care given to road accident victims attending the casualty departments of four tertiary level hospitals in South Western Nigeria was assessed using a one-page pro-forma. 1996 patients with injuries from road crashes were seen in the hospitals, only 172 had any form of pre-hospital care, just 160 were transported in ambulances and none had any form of organized pre-hospital care. The mean arrival time in the hospital after crashes was 93.6 minutes and there was a high rate (29.5%) of inter-hospital referral. For every Revised Trauma Score (RTS), the Probability of survival (Ps) of the patients was higher than the Ps of patients from high income countries.