EXPERIMENTALLY-INDUCED UPPER FACIAL 3RD FRACTURES IN UNEMBALMED HUMANCADAVER HEADS

Considerable need exists in the transportation industry to develop saf ety guidelines to protect the head and neck, One of the goals of this study was to produce facial fractures similar to those induced in moto r vehicle crashes, Unembalmed cadaver heads were fixed to a supporting device and impacted with a steel pipe, The most common fracture was o f the frontal sinus; multiple orbital wall, naso-orbitoethmoid, Le For t I, II, and III fractures were also produced, Average impact speeds o f 7.2 meters per second striking at the supraorbital rims created seve re injury to both skull and contents, Energy absorption values account ed for the actual total contact time between head and pipe with tolera nce level values measuring the force at specific intervals, The method described may be used to reproduce reliably those forces resulting in the facial fractures seen in the emergency room setting after motor v ehicle crashes.