Motor Vehicle Crash Brain Injury in Infants and Toddlers: A Suitable Model for Inflicted Head Injury?

This article reports on a pilot study undertaken to determine whether the progression of signs and symptoms and radiographic findings of motor vehicle crash (MVC) brain injury could be evaluated with retrospective data. The authors hypothesize that children involved in MVC events might experience angular accelerations similar to those experienced by children with inflicted traumatic brain injury (TBI). The ultimate goal was to examine the association of subdural hematoma (SDH) with initial loss of consciousness (LOC) and outcome. The authors conducted a retrospective review of 51 patients (age birth to 36 months) involved in a MVC and admitted to Harborview Medical Center (Seattle, Washington) between January 1996 and December 2001. Ambulance reports were available for 57% of the patients, while Glascow Coma Scale (GCS) scores were only available for 76% of patients. Thirty-nine percent of patients sustained skull fractures, 8% long bone fractures, 20% thoracic injuries, and 8% intra-abdominal injuries. Twenty-four percent of the patients had SDHs; half of these experienced LOC. SDH patients without initial LOC had computed tomography findings and clinical courses indicative of focal impact injury, not angular acceleration. The authors conclude that, due to the high rate of simple contact injury, motor vehicle crash TBI may not be a suitable model for children with inflicted TBI.

• Availability:
  • Find a library where document is available. Order URL: http://worldcat.org/issn/01452134
• Authors:
  • Shah, Mahim
  • Vavilala, Monica S
  • Feldman, Kenneth W
  • Hallam, Daniel K
• Publication Date: 2005-9

Language

• English

Media Info

• Media Type: Print
• Features: References;
• Pagination: pp 953-967
• Serial:
  • Child Abuse & Neglect
  • Volume: 29
  • Issue Number: 9
  • Publisher: Elsevier
  • ISSN: 0145-2134

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Children; Crash injuries; Diagnosis; Fractures (Anatomy); Infants; Radiography; Skull fractures
• Uncontrolled Terms: Abdominal injuries; Brain injuries; Child abuse; Hematoma; Loss of consciousness
• Subject Areas: Highways; Safety and Human Factors; I84: Personal Injuries;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 01052117
• Record Type: Publication
• Files: TRIS
• Created Date: Jun 28 2007 9:39AM