Fatal Vehicular Accidents Research Articles

Profile of Mortal Injuries in Vehicular Accidents: An Autopsy-Based Study.

Background It is crucial to analyze the trends of fatal injuries amongpedestrians, passengers, motorcycle riders, and drivers of three- and four-wheelers in traffic accidents. Objective To ascertain the trend of fatal injuries to the head, chest, and abdomen across different victim categories in vehicular accidents. Materials and methods An autopsy-based prospective study was carried out in the mortuary of a rural tertiary care hospital. A total of 108 fatal cases of vehicular accidents were taken into consideration. All natural and unnatural deaths, other than those stemming from vehicle crashes, were excluded from this study; only the victims of fatal vehicularaccidents were included. Results Males outnumbered female victims by 8.8:1. The age range of 41-60 years was the most affected (38.9%). The greatest number of victims (17, or 15.8%) were male motorcycle riders in the range of 21-40 years. Most vehicular mishaps (61;56.5%) occurred during the evening. The most frequent injury pattern reported was head injuries (53.4%). Conclusions Motorcycle riders constituted the most severely injured victim category in a vehicular accident. Most mishaps occurred in the dark because of inadequate lighting or bad road conditions in rural areas. Furthermore, the most frequently occurring type of injury was an injury to the head, which may be an outcome of riders' lack of compliance with the mandatory helmet-use policy.

Epidemiological profile of fatal vehicular accidents in rural region of Maharashtra

Accident is “An unfortunate incident that happens unexpectedly and unintentionally, typically resulting in damage or injury.” With the rise in global urbanization and motorization, vehicular accidents induced injuries have become major worldwide public health problems. The Prospective study of fatal vehicular accidents was carried out at Rural Medical College and Hospital in Maharashtra during the period of May 2016 to April 2020. Total 216 cases were studied. Age group 51-60 years (20.4%) was most commonly affected. Males were more affected than females with male: female ratio of 8.8:1. Maximum deaths were found in illiterate (30.6%) and were laborers and students by occupation. Maximum (32.4%) mishaps occurred on national highways. Majority (38%) of the fatal vehicular accidents occurred in evening hours. Most common category of victim was Motor Cycle Rider (35.2%), followed by pedestrians (30.6%). Keeping in view the results of this study, multi factorial approach is needed to prevent vehicular accidents and to minimize their consequences.

Pattern of road traffic injuries in patients admitted to Al-jlaa Hospital, Benghazi, Libya

The developing countries bear a large share of burden and account for about 85% of the deaths as a result of road traffic accidents. In Libya, accidents cost the country about $160 million in 1978. The factors that affect accident rates and severity are divided into behavioral and structural ones. The present study was carried out to determine the incidence of fatal vehicular accidents and patterns of injuries among road traffic injury victims brought to Al-jlaa Hospital (Benghazi, Libya). A total of 2630 patients with road traffic injuries were registered at Al-jlaa Hospital. The data reported in the present study were collected between January 2009 and December 2009. Data were collected, including medical history, patient symptoms, clinical signs, and the radiological findings. A systematic method was used for the clinical examination of the traumatized region. Data of patients were recorded, including age, sex, time of occurrence, types of road users, frequency and type of injury (frequency of soft tissue injuries and bone fractures), outcomes, ICU admission, duration of survival as well as the period of hospitalization until death. Furthermore, an optimal combination of radiographic imaging was ascertained and computed tomography was found to be the single most informative mode of imaging. The Glasgow Coma Scale was used to assess the severity of brain injury. The Abbreviated Injury Scale scorings were performed according to the guidelines in the Abbreviated Injury Scale 2005 edition. A conservative or an operative intervention performed for all the cases was also recorded.

Socio-demographic Profile of Head Injury Victims of Fatal Vehicular Accidents in Semi urban Region of Maharashtra

Vehicular accidents are the major causes of death worldwide. Road traffic accidents are most common among all vehicular accidents. Head injury is the single most common cause of mortality in road traffic accidents. India has one of the highest road accident rates in the world. There has been a steady rise in the casualties in road accidents in the country and their proportions in total deaths due to all accident have also increased considerably in the past. The present study was undertaken on 202 victims of vehicular accidents, died due to head injury brought to our postmortem centre for medico-legal autopsy. The main purpose of our study was to find out the social and demographic profile of the victims involved in vehicular accidents and to provide epidemiological data, so the preventive measures can be undertaken. Our study shows that majority of the victims of road traffic accidents were mostly male of middle age group (20–40 years), when they were going on two wheelers without wearing helmets.

Cranio-Cerebral Injuries in Victims of Fatal Road Traffic Accident: A 5-year Post-Mortem Study

Background : Victims of vehicular accident sustain different types of injuries, of which, head injury is considered as more fatal than injury to other systems. This study was carried out to know the incidence and pattern of cranio-cerebral injuries in victims of fatal vehicular accidents. Methods: Medico-legal autopsies conducted on victims of vehicular accidents from 01-01-2008 to 31-12-2012 at the Dept. of Forensic Medicine, Father Muller Medical College, Mangalore, Karnataka, India, were retrospectively analysed. Results: Deaths due to vehicular accidents constituted 69% of the total unnatural deaths. Cranio-cerebral injuries were present in 68.5% of victims of vehicular accident. Combination of skull fracture, intra-cranial haemorrhages and cerebral injury was seen in maximum number of victims (38.2%). If injuries are considered individually, most commonly observed injury was intracranial haemorrhage (90.7%), followed by skull fracture (78.9%). Subarachnoid haemorrhage was the commonest type of intracranial haemorrhage present (78.3%). In the skull vault, linear fracture was the commonest type (49%) and in the base, middle cranial fossa (68.3%) was the most commonly fractured fossa. Among the cerebral injuries, contusion of the brain tissue was the commonest injury seen. Frontal and temporal lobes were the most commonly injured parts of the cerebrum (65.8%). Conclusion: Most of the cranio-cerebral injuries cannot be treated successfully because of their anatomical configuration. But, morbidity and mortality due to vehicular accidents can be reduced by preventing the occurrence of accidents. Therefore, the old saying, “Prevention is better than cure” holds good even here.

Pattern of Fatal Vehicular Accidents Involving Head Injuries in Southern Marathwada Region of Maharashtra

Fatal vehicular accidents mostly involve Head injury. Present study is done to understand the pattern of Vehicular Accidents involving head injuries. This is hospital based cross sectional study at mortuary of Govt. Medical College, Latur, where 202 cases of Vehicular accidents involving head injuries were occurred during period of 1st December 2010 to 31st November 2012. Majority of victims are males between 21–40 yrs age group. Maximum accidents occurred between 06.00pm to 09.00pm. Two-wheeler driver were the most vulnerable victims.

Study of Patterns of Cranio-Cerebral Injuries in Deaths due to Fatal Vehicular Accidents

In the present study 128 cases of head injury victims in fatal vehicular accidents autopsied are included. In vehicular accidents, among 128 cases studied who died due to fatal cranio-cerebral injuries, males were the commonest victims, 21–40 years was the common age group. Temporal and frontal bones were the commonest sites of fracture. Subdural hemorrhage was the commonest among the intracranial hemorrhages

Pattern of cranio—intracranial injuries in fatal vehicular accidents in Chandigarh zone of north—west India—a 25 years autopsy experience from a tertiary care hospital of India

Objectives- To analyse the epidemiological factors involved in fatal vehicular accidents as observed in hospital setting- To analyse the pattern of cranio-intracranial injuries in fatal vehicular accidents- To provide a...

Fatal road traffic accidents and their relationship with head injuries: An epidemiological survey of five years

In depth studies of fatal vehicular accidents provide valuable data for implementing effective emergency services to reduce the trauma related mortality and strengthening legal measures in peak hours of fatal accidents. We aimed to study, pattern of injuries especially fatal traumatic brain injuries occurring in vehicular accidents. Postmortem reports and clinical records of victims of road traffic accident autopsied during the period of 2001–2005 at Department of Forensic Medicine and Toxicology, All India Institute of Medical Sciences, New Delhi, were analyzed retrospectively. Out of total 7008 medico legal autopsies conducted during the study period, 2472 (35.27 %) were of vehicular accidents. The male/female ratio was 7.49:1. Commonest age group affected was between 21-40 years involving 1341 (54.24%) cases. Pre-hospital mortality was in 985 (39.84 %) cases. Fatal traumatic brain injuries were seen in 1699 (68.73%) cases. Skull fractures were found in 1183 (69.63%) cases of head injury; most common bone fractured was temporal bone (n=559, 47.25%). The commonest variety of intracranial hemorrhage was subdural hemorrhage (n=1514, 89.11%). The craniotomy was done in 297 (17.48%) cases; maximum mortality (41.07%) was seen within 4–ays. Most commonly injured abdominal organ was liver (n=532, 21.52%). No significant difference was evident in incidence of fatal vehicular accident on weekends and weekdays. However November month took maximum toll of deaths (n=273, 11.04%) of total vehicular accident fatalities in five year duration. 53.20% of fatal accident occurred between 6 PM and 6 AM. The results of study emphasize the need to improve the pre hospital care with provision of trauma services at site and to establish neurosurgical facilities with trauma registry.

Management of head injury.

Incidence Head trauma accounts for one-third of all admissions to accident units. The annual incidence of head injury in the United States is approximately 0,2 per cent. t-5 Most head injuries occur and present to the emergency room between 4 p.m. and midnight. The frequency is highest between Friday and Saturday. Males outnumber females by three to o n e ) -5 Younger age groups are especially affected and, in New York, 39 per cent of injuries occur in patients under 15 years of age. 6 In most communities, traffic accidents cause over 50 per cent of injuries but in some urban areas, violence and falls predominate. Alcohol consumption has been associated with over 50 per cent of fatal vehicular accidents. 7 Detectable blood alcohol levels have been found in more than 50 per cent of head injured patients in emergency rooms. 8'9 The annual mortality rate averages 0.03 per cent. lo Over 60 per cent of deaths occur during a therapeutic vacuum, i.e., the time before the patient receives medical assistance. Comprehensive studies have indicated that 43 per cent of fatalities might have been avoided had medical aid been available within ten minutes. Respiratory obstruction is the primary cause of death in at least 15 per cent of the casualties. ~1 In a review of 116 patients who talked following head injury but subsequently died (a clinical situation encountered in 38 per cent of deaths), Rose and Jennett concluded that in 75 per cent, one or more avoidable factors were present and, in at least 54 per cent, these factors (hypoxia, hypotension, delay in treatment, sepsis, seizures and iatrogenic complications) contributed to death, t2 Intracranial injuries Head injury is not a homogeneous disease. Therapy and prognosis depend on the underlying pathology.

Pattern of cranio-intracranial injuries in fatal vehicular accidents in Delhi, 1966--76.

The present study was undertaken in the Department of Forensic Medicine of the AH India Institute of Medical Sciences, New Delhi, with the object of studying various aspects of cranio-intracranial injuries in roadside vehicular accident cases. Out of a total of 3227 medicolegal post-mortem examinations conducted, the number of accidental deaths was 2279 (70·62 per cent). Vehicular accidents (1132) comprised 49·76 per cent of the total fatal accidents and 35·5 per cent of the total post-mortems. The incidence of males involved in accidents was 71·74 per cent which was about five times more than females (15·01 per cent). Children below 12 years comprised 13·25 per cent of vehicular accident victims. The most common victim involved was the pedestrian comprising 50·7 per cent, followed by the motorcyclist (18·28 percent). The commonest age group involved in fatal vehicular accidents was between 21–40 years (521 cases, 46·01 per cent). Persons between the age group 11–20 years accounted for 13·69 per cent. Trucks were responsible for accidents in 28·09 per cent of cases, buses in 17·14 per cent and cars in 22·99 per cent; these have been found to be the most common types of vehicles causing fatal accidents. Most of the victims died on the spot (36·30 per cent). A total of 72·5 per cent of the victims died within 24 hours. All victims survived up to a maximum of only 2 weeks, except one case who survived 29 days and died of pyogenic meningitis. Head injuries were responsible for causing death in 71·99 per cent of cases. Chest injuries caused death in 6·18 per cent of cases and abdominal injuries proved fatal in 7·06 per cent of cases. Death by injury to other regions occurred in 15·54 per cent of cases. The incidence of cranio-intracranial injuries was highest in cyclists (78·93 per cent), followed by motorcyclists (72–46 per cent) and pedestrians (66·02 per cent). The number of car occupants involved in fatal accidents was 65·3 per cent. Fracture of the skull was observed in 79·87 per cent of cases; the most common bone involved was the temporal bone (58·67 per cent), followed by the occipital bone (57·75 per cent). Fractures of parietal and frontal bone were almost equal, being 50·38 per cent and 49·37 per cent respectively. The commonest variety of intracranial haemorrhage was subarachnoid haemorrhage (66·9 per cent), followed by subdural haemorrhage (58·2 per cent) and extradural haemorrhage (14·2 per cent). Extradural haemorrhage was least common (14·2 per cent). Intracerebral haemorrhage was found in 22·5 per cent of cases and brain stem haemorrhage in 10·81 per cent. The incidences of contusion and laceration of the brain were almost equal, being 23·6 per cent and 24·8 per cent respectively. Fracture of the ribs was the commonest chest injury, with contusion and laceration of the lung in 18·6 per cent of cases. Laceration of the liver was commonly found in abdominal injury in 17·2 per cent of cases. These findings have been compared with other authors. An attempt was also made in the present study to correlate the post-mortem findings and the survival time in relation to those victims who gave a history of consciousness after the accident and those where there was no history of consciousness. For convenience sake, the post-mortem lesions were divided in grades as 0, I, II, IIa, III and IIIa. The maximum number of fatal cases (46·2 per cent) belonged to grade III (fractured skull, intracranial haemorrhage and brain lesion) followed by grade II (35·1 per cent) (fracture skull and intracranial haemorrhage). No relationship was established between the post-mortem findings, the survival time and the state of consciousness or un-consciousness. The grade II and grade III lesions were common in both conscious and unconscious patients. The commonest complication observed in head injury cases was bronchopneumonia.