Do motor vehicle airbags increase risk of ocular injuries in adults?☆
Section snippets
Materials and methods
The cases were categorized as fatal or nonfatal accidents. The fatal accident series (FAS) included accidents in which at least one of the cars involved in a fatal accident (any of the occupants died) was equipped with an airbag in Finland from 1991 through to 1999. The airbag was not necessarily in the car of the fatally injured person. The airbag study (AB) included accidents in which at least one of the cars involved in a nonfatal accident was equipped with an airbag. Data were collected
Analysis of published cases
The literature review revealed a total of 121 cases, of which 110 were adults.7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 18, 19, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37, 38, 39, 40, 41, 42, 43, 45, 46, 47, 48, 49, 50, 51, 52, 53, 54 Child cases (age, 1–11 years; n = 11)6, 17, 20, 23, 44 were not included, because children (age < 10 years) sitting behind a deploying airbag have been reported to show an increased mortality.1 Consequently, it is recommended that children not
Risk of airbag-related eye injury
Although published reports investigating airbag-induced eye injuries concluded that the airbag contributed to the trauma, crash dynamic data were often not sufficient to exclude other causes for the ocular trauma.6, 7, 8, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 24, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37, 38, 39, 40, 41, 42, 43, 44, 45, 46, 47, 48, 49, 50, 51, 52, 53, 54
In our study, the risk of any eye injury in an accident involving airbags was found to be low. Only one severe
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2013, Survey of OphthalmologyCitation Excerpt :In some cases bilateral ocular perforation occurred.97 Vichnin et al report that the most severe ocular injuries are in glass spectacle wearers116 although this has not been statistically proven30 and is disputed.69 One of us (J.A.) has seen bilateral ocular perforations after airbag deployment in a child resulting in bilateral blindness.
Biomechanical modeling of eye trauma for different orbit anthropometries
2011, Journal of BiomechanicsCitation Excerpt :There are over 1.9 million eye injuries annually in the U.S., including over 9000 globe ruptures and 30,000 cases of blindness resulting from trauma (McGwin et al., 2005; Parver, 1986; Smith et al., 2002). Motor vehicle crashes (Anderson et al., 2002; Duma and Crandall, 2000; Duma et al., 2002, 1996, 2005; Fukagawa et al., 1993; Kuhn et al., 1994; Lehto et al., 2003; Lueder, 2000; Muller-Jensen and Allmaras, 1969; Rao et al., 2008), military operations (Biehl et al., 1999; Colyer et al., 2008; Heier et al., 1993; Mader et al., 1993, 2006; Thach et al., 2008; Weichel et al., 2008), and ocular impacts with sporting equipment and consumer products (Bullock et al., 1997; Cassen, 1997; Chisholm, 1969; Hecker, 2007; Pardhan et al., 1995; Rodriguez et al., 2003; Thach et al., 1999; Vinger et al., 1997) are common causes of eye injuries. In motor vehicle crashes, severe eye injury can result from impact with an airbag, flying glass, or foam particles from the vehicle's dashboard.
Epidemiology and economic impact of ocular trauma
2007, Ocular Trauma with DVDOcular injuries in mild facial trauma
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Manuscript no. 210955.
There has been no financial support nor is there any financial interest related to the article.