Role of impact velocity and chest compression in thoracic injury
Viano, D.C.; Lau, V.K.
Aviation Space and Environmental Medicine 54(1): 16-21
1983
ISSN/ISBN: 0095-6562 PMID: 6830552 Document Number: 208735
Impact velocity and chest compression are important factors in traumatic injury, but there is no functional relationship to assess impact severity. A blunt thoracic impact of constant velocity (5-22 m/s) and prescribed contact displacement (3-46 mm) was delivered to 123 anesthetized rabbits. Myocardial and major vascular injury increased from contusion to rupture with cardiac tamponade and sudden death as impact velocity or chest compression was independently increased. A theoretical relationship was found for impact severity: IS = VC/1-C, where V and C are imapct velocity and normalized chest compression, respectively. Based on the frequency of critical/fatal injury, probit analysis gave IS = 6.4 m/s as an estimate of the LD50 response in the exeprimental model.