Severe upper extremity injuries in frontal automobile crashes: the effects of depowered airbags.

摘要

BACKGROUND: The purpose of this study was to determine the effects of depowered frontal airbags on the incidence of severe upper extremity injuries. METHODS: The National Automotive Sampling System database files from 1993 to 2000 were examined in a study that included 2,413,347 occupants who were exposed to an airbag deployment in the United States. RESULTS: Occupants exposed to a depowered airbag deployment were significantly more likely to sustain a severe upper extremity injury (3.9%) than those occupants exposed to a full-powered airbag deployment (2.5%) (P=.01). Full-powered systems resulted in an injury distribution of 89.2% fractures and 7.9% dislocations compared with depowered systems with 55.3% fractures and 44.3% dislocations. CONCLUSIONS: Although depowered airbags were designed to reduce the risk of injuries, they appear to have increased the overall incidence of severe upper extremity injuries through a shift from long bone fractures to joint dislocations.