January 29, 1998. Press release from The Lancet

LIVER INJURY CAUSED BY MOUNTAIN BIKES

LONDON, January 29: RIDING MOUNTAIN BIKES fitted with bar ends is associated with an increase in liver damage after a fall. Austrian researchers, reporting in a Research Letter in this weekÕs issue of The Lancet, have found an increase in liver damage in cyclists riding mountain bikes. 52 patients were admitted to the trauma ward of the University Hospital of Innsbruck between 1995 and 1997 with injuries sustained while riding mountain bikes. Eight of these cyclists were found to have had a bleed around the liver causing abdominal pain. All eight had fallen on to the handlebars of their mountain bikes and all the handles were fitted with bar ends.
Bar ends are grip attachments fitted by cyclists to assist them in climbing. Dr Nehoda and colleagues recommend the use of forward-inclining and foam covered bar ends, which may result in fewer injuries in a fall.
ENDS

Sources: The Lancet.
Contact: Dr Hermann Nehoda, Department of Surgery, University Hospital of Innsbruck, Innsbruck, Austria; tel. +43 512 504 2603