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| Motor vehicle-related injuries can be arbitrarily divided into collision between the patient and the external environment (the vehicle, or a stationary object if the occupant has been ejected) and acceleration or deceleration forces acting on the patient's internal organs. |
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| In a frontal collision, the unrestrained occupant of a vehicle continues to move forward as the vehicle comes to an abrupt stop. The initial impact point is often the lower extremities, but as the body continues moving, the head, cervical spine and torso impact on the windshield and steering wheel. |
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| In a lateral impact, the victim is accelerated away from the side of the vehicle. Compressive pelvic injuries, pulmonary contusion, intra-abdominal solid organ injury and diaphragmatic rupture are common. Rear impacts also accelerate the victim; if head restraints are incorrectly fitted, the inertia of the head makes the cervical spine vulnerable to injury. |
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| Acceleration-deceleration trauma is the most common result of a closed head injury. It occurs when the head is accelerated and then stopped suddenly, as in a car accident, and causes discrete focal lesions to two areas of the brain. The brain will suffer contusions at the point of direct impact and at the site directly opposite the point of impact due to the oscillation of the brain within the skull. The prefrontal areas and the anterior portion of the temporal lobes are the parts of the brain most often affected by acceleration-deceleration trauma. |
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| This course will describe injuries typically sustained in motor vehicle accidents with particular focus on head, facial, neck, shoulder, upper extremity, chest and abdomen. Symptoms of the various injuries as well as red flags will be discussed. |
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