Experimentally induced upper facial third fractures in unembalmed human cadaver heads.

Considerable need exists in the transportation industry to develop safety guidelines to protect the head and neck. One of the goals of this study was to produce facial fractures similar to those induced in motor vehicle crashes. Unembalmed cadaver heads were fixed to a supporting device and impacted with a steel pipe. The most common fracture was of the frontal sinus; multiple orbital wall, naso-orbitoethmoid, Le Fort I, II, and III fractures were also produced. Average impact speeds of 7.2 meters per second striking at the supraorbital rims created severe injury to both skull and contents. Energy absorption values accounted for the actual total contact time between head and pipe with tolerance level values measuring the force at specific intervals. The method described may be used to reproduce reliably those forces resulting in the facial fractures seen in the emergency room setting after motor vehicle crashes.