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Background: Previous research has identified key predictors of elevated abdominal injury risk in seat belt-restrained child vehicle occupants; however these data cannot be used to isolate specific mechanisms or sources of injury to suggest strategies for prevention., Methods: Using a large child-focused crash surveillance system, cases of seat belt-restrained children who sustained an internal abdominal injury in a frontal crash were studied using standard crash investigation protocols. A second group of cases of restrained children in similar crashes without abdominal injury was investigated. Medical, crash, and child characteristics of each case were analyzed in the context of known biomechanics of abdominal injury to determine the mechanisms of injury and associated kinematics., Results: Review of 21 cases of abdominal injury identified belt loading directly over the injured organ as the most common mechanism of injury. Three unique kinematic patterns were identified that varied by the initial position of the lap belt and kinematics of the upper torso. Sixty percent of the drivers and 90% of the other child occupants in these crashes sustained either no or minor injury. In the 16 no abdominal injury cases, all but one sustained external bruising to their abdomen and contact injury to the head and face., Conclusions: This evaluation of crashes in which belted children did and did not sustain abdominal injuries revealed key characteristics about their mechanism. In this data set, belt compression directly on the abdomen, manifested by improper initial placement of the seat belt, poor child posture, or misuse of the shoulder belt, resulted in abdominal injury in low-severity crashes in which other occupants sustained little injury. The cases pointed to control of torso excursion by consistent use of the shoulder belt and suggested that technologies such as lap belt pretensioners or belt-positioning booster seats might be a possible strategy, among others, for prevention.

Objective: This paper describes a study aimed at characterizing the exposure to physical and chemical by-products from the deployment of airbag restraint systems., Design, Materials and Methods: Specifically, the levels of particulates and the composition of gases and bag fabric speed were measured in the passenger compartment following deployment of either a driver's side or driver's side/passenger's side airbag system., Measurements: A Fourier transform infrared analyzer (FTIR) and chemiluminescence analyzers were used for gas analysis, a cascade impactor and gravimetric filter measurements for aerosol determination and high-speed films to determine fabric speed., Main Results and Conclusions: The measured gases were found to be within the recommended guidelines for human exposures, but no guidelines exist for particle exposures of this magnitude (150-220 mg/m3) but short duration. High-speed films were also taken of the deployments to obtain an estimate of the fabric speed as it leaves the module. The maximum average speed for both types of airbag was approximately 100 mph and in both cases average speeds ranged from lows near 50 mph to highs of over 200 mph.

Lateral impacts of automobiles frequently result in abdominal injury to the occupants. While there have been important advances in the clinical management of this lateral impact trauma, the abdominal tolerance to injury from lateral impacts remains uncertain. The present report describes a series of 117 experiments in which the effect of changing the impact velocity and the forced abdominal compression upon the abdominal injuries sustained was monitored. The impact velocity was varied from 3 to 15 m/s, and the abdominal compression was varied from 10 to 50%. Serious injuries (AIS greater than or equal to 3) occurred in the following proportions of the total number of serious injuries: renal (54%), hepatic (44%), and splenic (1%). Impact side was a significant factor in hepatic and splenic tolerance, but not in renal tolerance. An abdominal injury criterion (AIC) is proposed which is a function of the impact velocity times the forced abdominal compression, but more work is necessary before it can be applied to human beings.