Automotive airbag-related upper extremity injuries: a report of three cases

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Freedman, Eric L.¹; Safran, Marc R.¹; Meals, Roy A.¹

Automotive airbag-related upper extremity injuries: a report of three cases

J Trauma. April 1995;38(4):577-581

©1995 Williams & Wilkins

Affiliations

¹Department of Orthopaedic Surgery, U.C.L.A. School of Medicine, Los Angeles, California
Abstract

Automotive airbag technology has reduced the number of injuries and fatalities resulting from motor vehicle crashes. With the increasingly frequent application of this safety feature in automobiles, recent reports of airbag-associated injuries have emerged, including ocular and non-lethal cardiac trauma. We report three cases of airbag-related upper extremity injuries seen at a level-I trauma center over a 6-month period. A heightened awareness of this type of injury in patients injured in motor vehicle crashes with airbag deployment is recommended. The awareness, identification, and management of these high energy injuries will take on added meaning as the airbag technology becomes universally applied.
Links

DOI: 10.1097/00005373-199504000-00018

PubMed: 7723098

WoS: A1995RD56300018

Ovid: 00005373-199504000-00018

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Cited By (14)

Year	Entry
1995	Fredin SR. Injury reduction potential for "smart" airbags. In: 39th Annual Proceedings, Association for the Advancement of Automotive Medicine (AAAM). October 16-18, 1995; Chicago, IL.557-566.
1999	McKay MP, Fitzharris M, Fildes B. Driver injury patterns in the United States and Australia: does beltwearing or airbag deployment make a difference? In: 43rd Annual Proceedings, Association for the Advancement of Automotive Medicine (AAAM). September 20-21, 1999; Barcelon, Spain.409-428.
2000	Segui-Gomez M, Graham JD. Patterns of injury among drivers hospitalized in Level-I trauma centers: have frontal airbags made a difference? In: 44th Annual Proceedings, Association for the Advancement of Automotive Medicine (AAAM). October 2-4, 2000; Chicago, IL.
2002	Atkinson P, Hariharan P, Mari-Gowda S, Telehowski P, Martin S, Van Hoof J, Bir C, Atkinson T. An under-hand steering wheel grasp produces significant injury risk to the upper extremity during airbag deployment. In: 46th Annual Proceedings, Association for the Advancement of Automotive Medicine (AAAM). September 30–October 2, 2002; Tempe, AZ.
1998	Bloch B. The coming revolution in airbag technology. In: Proceedings of the 16th International Technical Conference on the Enhanced Safety of Vehicles (ESV). May 31–June 4, 1998; Windsor, Ontario, Canada.1175-1189.
1998	McKendrew C, Hines MH, Litsky A, Saul RA. Assessment of forearm injury due to a deploying driver-side air bag. In: Proceedings of the 16th International Technical Conference on the Enhanced Safety of Vehicles (ESV). May 31–June 4, 1998; Windsor, Ontario, Canada.1044-1054.
1998	Bass CR, Duma SM, Crandall JR, George S, Kuppa S, Khaewpong N, Sun E, Eppinger R. The interaction of air bags with upper extremity test devices. In: Proceedings of the 16th International Technical Conference on the Enhanced Safety of Vehicles (ESV). May 31–June 4, 1998; Windsor, Ontario, Canada.1628-1645.
2002	Hurst WJ, Cormier JM, Stitzel JD, Jernigan MV, Moorcroft DM, Herring IP, Duma SM. A new methodology for investigating airbag induced skin abrasions. In: Proceedings of the 30th International Workshop on Human Subjects for Biomechanical Research. November 2002; Ponte Vedra Beach, FL.157-165.
1996	Dischinger PC, Ho SM, Kerns TJ, Brennan P. Patterns of injury in frontal collisions with and without airbags. In: Proceedings of the 1996 International IRCOBI Conference on the Biomechanics of Impact. September 11-13, 1996; Dublin, Ireland.311-319.
2003	Duma SM, Cormier JM, Hurst WJ, Stitzel JD, Herring IP. The effects of seam design on airbag induced skin abrasions from high-rate shear loading. In: Proceedings of the 2003 International IRCOBI Conference on the Biomechanics of Impact. September 25, 2003; Lisbon, Portugal.95-107.
1997	Bass CR, Duma SM, Crandall JR, Morris R, Martin P, Pilkey WD, Hurwitz S, Khaewpong N, Eppinger R, Sun E. The interaction of air bags with upper extremities. In: Proceedings of the 41st Stapp Car Crash Conference. November 13-14, 1997; Lake Buena Vista, FL. Warrendale, PA: Society of Automotive Engineers:111-129. SAE 973324.
2003	Van Rooij L, Bours R, Van Hoof J, Mihm JJ, Ridella SA, Bass CR, Crandall JR. The development, validation and application of a finite element upper extremity model subjected to air bag loading. Stapp Car Crash J. 2003;47:55-78. SAE 2003-22-0004.
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