TY  - JOUR
PY  - 2000//
TI  - Fractures of the upper extremity in restrained automobile front seat passengers: injury pattern and incidence in relation to accident mechanism
JO  - Unfallchirurg
A1  - Richter, Matthias
A1  - Blauth, M.
A1  - Otte, Dietmar
A1  - Tscherne, H.
SP  - 364
EP  - 370
VL  - 103
IS  - 5
N2  - During 1985 and 1995, 3,260 restrained car drivers (1,228 front seat passengers) were injured in 9,380 crashes involving cars. 179 (5.5%) (front seat passengers: 53, 4.3%) of those sustained fractures, of the arm. Among the 384 single fractures the hand (25%), wrist (23%) and forearm (23%) were affected most often, elbow (9%), upper arm (10%) and shoulder (10%) rather seldom. Half of the evaluated fractures of the long tubular bones were type A-fractures due to the AO classification and the other two quarters, respectively type B- and C-injuries in each case. 16% were open fractures. No considerable differences of the injury mechanism were found comparing drivers and front seat passengers. Since over half of all fractures resulted from a direct impact to the hand and/or arm, modifications are necessary in order to improve the energy absorption by means of padding the dashboard and the inner door. The use of side- and front-airbags could serve as an additional auxiliary equipment, as long as it doesn't induce a supplemental stress, through unfolding of the airbag.
LA  - 
SN  - 0177-5537
UR  - http://dx.doi.org/
ID  - ref1
ER  -