Traffic Accident Injuries: Types and Mechanisms
Thoracic Organ Injuries
Thoracic organ injuries occur frequently and are very different, including lung lacerations, tears, and broken heart aorta.
Abdominal Organ Injuries
Injuries to solid organs and mesentery are more common than those to hollow organs, accompanied by a large hemoperitoneum.
Pelvic Injuries
Pelvic fractures and dislocations are common, with a few injuries to important organs of this cavity.
Upper Limb Injuries
Fractures of the collarbone can occur due to injury from safety belts.
Lower Extremity Injuries
Femur and patella fractures are common, often accompanied by malleolar fractures.
Other Aspects of the Lesions
Among occupants of four-wheeled vehicles, fatalities are always among the front-seat occupants. Injuries are usually more severe due to the passenger’s projection against the front of the cabin (dashboard). This justifies the adoption of the safety belt and airbag.
Hit-and-Run Injuries
Hit-and-run is a complex trauma. Various kinds of contusions occur, in addition to sometimes sharp injuries, stabbing, burning, etc. Traumatic violence unfolds in stages, and their location gives rise to some lesion types, of interest to rebuild the kind of outrage and even the vehicle involved.
Typical Complete Hit-and-Run Phases
*1. Impact*
This is the violent meeting of the vehicle and the victim. Single or multiple injuries may be caused, consisting of bruises, wounds, bruising, puncture wounds, and penetrating wounds, accompanied by underlying skeletal fracture. The height of this part of the vehicle determines the location of the injuries.
*2. Fall*
Occurs if the victim, in a collision with the vehicle, is launched by it to varying distances. Two varieties exist:
- Above ground: The body is projected upward, falling on the ground.
- Run over: The body is projected upward, falling on the vehicle itself.
Following injuries may occur:
- Simple bruises
- Wounds
- Bruising
- Fractures
- Dislocations
- Visceral injuries
Falls on the vehicle itself are much larger in gravity, as is their location on a very large part of the body.
*3. Crushing*
- The vehicle reaches the individual lying on the ground twice, making contact with them and trying to pass over them.
- If it does run over, the victim’s body is compressed against the ground by the wheels or other parts of the vehicle, crushing it in its path.
Osteoarticular lesions vary in location, ranging from fracture and dislocation to even grinding.
Visceral injuries include an outbreak of hollow viscera, tears, or tears of solid organs, etc.
*4. Dragging*
If the victim is attached anywhere on the vehicle, excoriations are produced, located on the exposed parts and protrusions in the form of elongated grooves or lines. The inlay material is ground, which is of great value in identifying if the victim has been moved from the place where the abuse occurred.
Incomplete Hit-and-Run
Varieties:
- When the individual is lying on the ground, common in suicide cases, the first two phases (impact and fall) are missing, starting the picture of abuses by the crushing.
- In certain cases where the individual is standing at the time of the collision, it is reduced to impact and fall, missing the last two phases.
- Dragging is random, as it is conditioned.
- Finally, some abuses may have an isolated phase, sometimes posing difficult diagnostic problems.