Volume Seven, Issue 2
February 2005
The Accident Reconstruction Newsletter
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Case Study:
Neck Injuries in Automobile Collisions
Cervical disc prolapse in rear-end automobile
collisions:
Injury mechanism unique to occupant and head restraint geometry
Jeff Wheeler, David Dainty - Vector
Scientific
Introduction
Anecdotal evidence has subjectively linked rear-end automobile collisions
to causation of cervical disc trauma,
however the injury mechanism has not been reported. Adams and Hutton (1982)
have indicated that a coupled
loading of flexion and compression from an external source are needed
to effect disc prolapse. Two case
studies of C5/6 disc prolapse following rear-end impacts are presented.
In both of these cases, a unique
combination of occupant restraint geometry and head/neck dynamics resulted
in the compression/flexion injury
mechanism being produced in the cervical spine.
Methods
This investigation involved a review of rear-end impact case studies,
live human and dummy rear-end
head/neck kinematics, and cadaveric studies on cervical disc injury biomechanics.
The two case studies
investigated involved rear end collisions of minivans by other vehicles.
In both cases, the injured party was a
female driver of the minivan. The impact dynamics of both accidents were
determined from accident
reconstruction using photographs, property damage estimates, and vehicle
specific crash test data. These
accidents were compared to results from human volunteers and anthropometric
devices (ATD's) subjected to
rear end impacts. Investigation of the seat and head restraint geometries,
along with occupant anthropometric
characteristics, exposed loading conditions that could lead to disc injury.
INSIDE THIS ISSUE
- An Overview of Knee-Thigh-Hip Injuries in Frontal Crashes in the United States
- Lower Extremity Injuries and Associated Injury Criteria
- Case Study: Neck Injuries in Automobile Collisions
- Case Study: Knee Injury Analysis in Heavy Truck v. Automobile Collision
- Case Study: Pedestrian Accident Analysis
- Effects of Head Restraint Position on Neck Injury in Rear Impact
- ARC-CSI Crash Conference 2005
- $200 rebate on the Crash Data Retrieval System Kit
- ARC Network New Members
- Accident Reconstruction Education and Training Events - New events added every month.
- In The News
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