Mechanism of injury due to traffic accident

This is an automatically translated article.

The article was professionally consulted by Specialist Doctor I Huynh Kim Long - Emergency Resuscitation Doctor - Emergency Resuscitation Department - Vinmec Da Nang International General Hospital.

Road traffic accidents are a global problem that the main factor leading to is the human factor. In which, the mechanism of injury caused by traffic accidents is mainly the impact mechanism. However, traffic accident injuries have many different mechanisms combined. Therefore, understanding these mechanisms will help to approach and treat patients more accurately.

1. About traffic accident injuries

Development is a human need, professional, economic and social, a normal and natural process in an ever-changing world. With better and better advancement, more affluence, the life of ordinary people has been significantly improved. At the same time, the good side comes with the negative side, there are more and more concerns about human safety, that is, traffic accidents with the third annual death rate in the world or even ranked second in some countries. Sadly, the victim is a young adult in the middle of adulthood.
Practice has proven that every traffic violation carries the risk of a traffic accident due to non-compliance with one or more rules. Consequently, when trauma occurs, life and body, physical and mental, are more or less affected, depending on the mechanism of occurrence. Therefore, different traffic accident injury mechanisms, requiring different approaches and handling, in order to quickly improve the health of the victims.

2. Types of traffic accident injury mechanism

2.1. Strong impact force

The force mechanism is simply one of the most common mechanisms for injury in traffic accidents. The resource can be:
Active impact when the trauma vehicle in motion collides with the human body, which is stationary, Passive impact when the human body is in motion and hits a surface vehicle can be stationary or dynamic Types of force mechanism causing road accident injury
a) When both vehicle and person move around
b) Simple impact injury of a part of the inside of the vehicle on the body in the event of the impact of one vehicle on another.
c) Smashing the body into a vehicle that can be fixed or is moving.
In general, the severity of injuries caused by a simple force mechanism is low. Specific lesions are characterized by bruising and swelling, often accompanied by joint trauma and fractures. In the case of trauma with fractures, common sites are the pelvic limbs (for pedestrians) or the head (for vehicle drivers).

2.2. Fall down

Falling to the ground from a fall consists of a passive collision of a body attracted by the ground's gravity on a vehicle or solid object it encounters. This mechanism of injury occurs both when the vehicle is accelerating or when the body suddenly falls.
The result is a crash injury with rough material such as soil or other smaller vehicles that are stopped or in motion. A hypothetical situation that would cause a pedestrian or vehicle driver to fall, whether due to physical thrust or a moving column of air due to the vehicle traveling at high speed. On the other hand, a person can still have an accident because of fear and fall just because they want to avoid the car as if it was rushing towards them.

2.3. Impact

Impact is a simple mechanism commonly encountered in road accidents and targets not only vehicle occupants but also pedestrians.
The context of collisions with pedestrians is when participating in traffic; and for passengers in a normal car, it is a collision with the design inside the trunk. Accordingly, occupants in the back row were hit with the front seats and those in the front row collided with the steering wheel or car glass, causing traumatic brain injury or damage to the skin and internal organs. If the external trauma is of low severity, the internal injuries are more diverse and serious, such as broken bones, broken organs, leading to blood loss in traffic accidents, timely cardiopulmonary resuscitation. and can lead to death.

2.4. Pressing

The simple compression mechanism involves crushing the body between two hard planes. The context in which this mechanism of injury occurs is represented by a part of the vehicle rolling over the body on a rough surface, such as the pavement, the ground. On the other hand, the victim's body can still be compressed right on the surface of the vehicle.
Due to compression, external traumatic injuries, although less noticeable, are only bruises, but internally, in the respective areas of pressure areas, internal organs have been damaged. Severe injuries, sometimes manifesting as penetrating fractures.

2.5. Crush ironing

Crushing is also a common mechanism in road traffic accident injuries. The context occurs when the body is compressed between the moving wheel of the vehicle (wheel, rail, slide) on the one hand and also a rolling plane with a compression trajectory on the other.
As a result, a body part is often crushed that is difficult to recover, and even leads to separation of the body.
In summary, road traffic accidents today are one of the common reasons for hospital emergency departments. The more modern the development of vehicles, the more severe the injury mechanism due to traffic accidents. Accordingly, the reception of these patients is really a big problem of medicine, because the mechanism of injury, impact force and trauma characteristics are directly related to the first aid as well as the outcome. next.
Traffic accident injuries are serious cases that can be life-threatening if not diagnosed and treated early. Patients must immediately go to medical facilities for diagnosis and emergency treatment. Vinmec International General Hospital is a prestigious medical address with:
The team of emergency doctors and nurses at the Emergency Department are intensively and professionally trained, able to receive and handle emergency schools. case of patients with severe, critical trauma. There is always coordination with all other specialties such as musculoskeletal, spine, chest, abdomen... quickly. There are modern equipment in diagnosis and treatment. Vinmec International General Hospital has given emergency treatment and treated many cases in emergencies, traffic accidents and serious injuries. Accordingly, the examination, emergency and resuscitation procedures for patients at Vinmec are all carried out methodically and according to the correct procedure, providing a high treatment prognosis and quick recovery time.

Please dial HOTLINE for more information or register for an appointment HERE. Download MyVinmec app to make appointments faster and to manage your bookings easily.

Reference sources: ncbi.nlm.nih.gov, worldwidewounds.com, Vietnam Administration of Medical Examination and Treatment - Ministry of Health