2 OPEN FOREARM FRACTURES AFTER AIRBAG DEPLOYMENT DURING LOW-SPEED ACCIDENTS

Automotive airbags effectively mitigate the impact of vehicular collis ion by absorbing and distributing a force that otherwise would be sust ained by the occupants. To be effective, inflation must be instantaneo us and sufficient to provide restraint to a moving body. Deployment of automotive airbags is a violent event that may cause injury to the oc cupants of the vehicle. This report describes two patients with severe , open radius and ulna fractures that were caused by airbag inflation during low velocity motor vehicle accidents. The degree of soft tissue injury and bone comminution in these patients was not fully appreciat ed until surgery, Orthopaedic surgeons should be aware of the explosiv e nature of airbag deployment and realize that the injury may be far g reater than expected from a low energy motor vehicle accident.