Abdominal injury patterns in real frontal crashes: influence of crash conditions, occupant seat and restraint systems.

An in-depth study was conducted through the analysis of medical reports and crash data from real world accidents. The objective was to investigate the abdominal injury patterns among car occupants in frontal crashes. The influence of the type of restraint system, the occupant seat, the age and the crash severity was investigated. The results indicate that the risk of abdominal AIS 3+ injuries increased with crash severity and decreased with the introduction of belt retractors. Rear belted passengers were observed to be more likely injured than front belted occupants. The organs injured in frontal crashes for belted occupants were mainly hollow organs especially jejunum, ileum and mesentery.