Elsevier

Ophthalmology

Volume 110, Issue 6, June 2003, Pages 1082-1088
Ophthalmology

Do motor vehicle airbags increase risk of ocular injuries in adults?

Presented in part as a poster at the Annual Meeting of the American Academy of Ophthalmology, November 2001, New Orleans, Louisiana.
https://doi.org/10.1016/S0161-6420(03)00244-6Get rights and content

Abstract

Purpose

This study was undertaken to evaluate the risk of eye injury in motor vehicle accidents in which airbags deploy. An attempt was made to assess the possible associations between eye injuries and eyewear in these accidents.

Design

Retrospective observational case series and literature review with analysis.

Participants/methods

We conducted a literature review of 62 case reports and articles describing 110 adult cases of eye injury after deployment of an airbag and examined two Finnish accident cohorts. The fatal accident series (FAS; fatal injuries with one or more cars involved) included 121 individuals sitting behind an airbag that deployed (65 survivors), and the Airbag study (AB; nonfatal, relatively serious accidents) included 210 individuals (survivors).

Main outcome measures

The type of eye injury, eyewear, and crash dynamics were studied in each of the reviewed case reports. The fatal accident series and AB studies were analyzed to disclose the eye injuries and use of eyewear and to estimate their possible relation to deployment of airbags.

Results

Analysis of the published reports revealed that airbag-induced eye injuries were not more frequently reported among wearers of eyeglasses than among nonwearers. However, open-eye injuries were reported three times more often among eyeglass wearers (P = 0.04), whereas all injuries from airbag chemicals occurred among nonwearers. With the exception of one orbital fracture with hyphema, all eye traumas (n = 7) in the FAS and AB cohorts were mild (eyebrow laceration, lid contusion, bruising). The risk of airbag-related eye injury was 2.5% for any eye injury and 0.4% for severe eye injury. In single accidents when seat belts were used, the risks were 2.0% and 0.5%, respectively. In the accidents from the FAS data no difference was observed in the risk for eye injury between survivors in incidents involving airbag deployment and incidents not involving airbags. This risk was not found to be greater among eyeglass wearers.

Conclusions

Despite reported cases in the literature, we found that the risk of severe eye injury from airbags was very low (0.4%) in fatal or relatively serious accidents. Eyewear did not seem to increase this risk but might interfere with the injury pattern.

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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    Manuscript no. 210955.

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