This content is not included in
your SAE MOBILUS subscription, or you are not logged in.
An Analysis of Recent Accidents Involving Upper Extremity Fractures Associated with Airbag Deployment
Technical Paper
2002-01-0022
ISSN: 0148-7191, e-ISSN: 2688-3627
Annotation ability available
Sector:
Language:
English
Abstract
Prior experimental and field studies have demonstrated an increased risk of upper extremity fracture due the deployment of frontal airbags. The experimental studies provide valuable insight as to likely injury mechanisms; namely, increasing proximity increases the risk of forearm fracture. Still, field data is needed to validate these experimental findings. The available field data has largely been derived from direct case study analysis or a review of government accident statistics. In both cases, the datasets were comprised solely of pre-1995 era vehicles. Such data represents early generation airbag designs and there has been little additional study in this area. In addition, there has been an absence of fracture pattern analyses as a function of airbag deployment and non-deployment. Such an analysis would help elucidate the role of the deploying airbag on upper extremity fracture in the current fleet. In the current study we analyzed the NASS database and cases admitted to our trauma service. Our analysis shows that the forearm was fractured most frequently and that airbag deployment is associated with a 2 to 3 times increase in the proportion of forearm fractures versus no bag deployment. Further, it was found that females were statistically more at risk to suffer a forearm fracture even after pair matching for airbag deployment exposure and occupant sex. The current study shows that airbag deployment increases the risk of forearm fracture as a proportion of all upper extremity fractures and that females are at an increased risk of such injury.
Recommended Content
Authors
Citation
Atkinson, P., Mclean, M., Telehowski, P., Khan, I. et al., "An Analysis of Recent Accidents Involving Upper Extremity Fractures Associated with Airbag Deployment," SAE Technical Paper 2002-01-0022, 2002, https://doi.org/10.4271/2002-01-0022.Also In
References
- P Atkinson Atkinson T Haut R Eusebi C et al Development of injury criteria for human surrogates to address current trends in knee-to-instrument panel injuries 42nd Stapp Car Crash Conference Proceedings
- CR Bass Duma SM Crandall JR et al The interaction of airbags with upper extremities 41st Stapp Car Crash Conference Proceedings
- DJ Dalmatos German A Hendrick BE Hurley RM Air bag deployments: the canadian experience Journal of Trauma 1995 38 4 476 81
- EL Freedman Safran MR Meals RA Automotive airbag-related upper extremity injuries: A report of three cases Journal of Trauma 1995 38 4 577 81
- WN Hardy Schneider LW Reed MP Ricci LL Biomechanical investigation of airbag-induced upper-extremity injuries 41st Stapp Car Crash Conference Proceedings
- Huebner CJ Reed MP Airbag-induced fracture in a patient with osteoporosis Journal of Trauma 1998 Aug 45 2 416 8
- DF Huelke Moore JL Compton TW Samuels J Levine RS Upper extremity injuries related to airbag deployments SAE paper 940716 1994
- Kirchoff R Rasmussen S Forearm fracture due to the release of an automobile airbag: A case report Acta Orthop Scand 1995 65 5 483
- Kulowski J Injuries of the extremities: the most common among motoring casualties Southern Medical Journal 1956 49 2 1650 169
- Lundy DW Lourie GM Two open forearm fractures after airbag deployment during low speed accidents Clinical Orthopaedics and Related Research 351 191 5
- F Marco Garcia-Lopez A Leon C Lopez-Duran L Bilateral smith fracture of the radius caused by airbag deployment Journal of Trauma 1996 40 4 663 4
- CT Mehlman Scott KA Koch BL Garcia VF Orthopaedic injuries in children secondary to airbag deployment Journal of Bone and Joint Surgery 2000 82-A 6 895 98
- Milloy C Rage-free roads begin with the man in the mirror The Detroit News March 4 2001
- CR Perry Elstrom JA Pankovich AM Handbook of fractures Perry Elstrom Pankovich McGraw-Hill 1995
- M Richter Otte D Ing D et al. Upper extremity fractures in restrained front seat occupants Journal of Trauma 2000 48 5 907 12
- RA Saul Backaitis SH Beebe MS Ore LS Hybrid III dummy instrumentation and assessment of arm injuries during airbag deployment 40th Stapp Car Crash Conference Proceedings
- Smock WS Nichols GR Airbag module cover injuries Journal of Trauma 1995 38 4 489 93