[Scooter accidents in children at Aristide Le Dantec, Unversity Hospital of Dakar: a study of 74 cases].

Introduction: Scooter accidents are becoming more frequent in Dakar. The purpose of this study is to report the epidemiological and lesional aspects of these accidents on children in Dakar.

Materials And Methods: A retrospective and descriptive study was conducted in Pediatric Surgery Unit of the Aristide Le Dantec Hospital in Dakar from January 1st, 2009 to December 31, 2011. Various parameters were studied. These parameters include: frequency, sociodemographic and lesional aspects.

Results: Scooter accidents represent 12% of highway accidents. They were more frequent in the day, from 12 am to 2 pm (27%) and in the night, from 6 pm to 8 pm (28.4%). They might occur every day but were more frequent during April (17.6%) and June (13.5%). They occurred mainly in the suburban district of Dakar (78%). The age group most affected was the one from 3 to 8 years (60.8%). Male gender was predominant (sex ratio 1.5). Pedestrians are the most vulnerable (93.2%). The fall was the dominant mechanism (98.7%). Lesions affected mainly the lower limb (51.1%) and were essentially constituted by fracture.

Conclusion: The frequency of scooter accidents in children is related to the galloping urbanization and to the increase of the number of cars on the roads in the peninsula. Victims are essentially pedestrians and present most of the time fractures.