PMID- 15926387
OWN - NLM
STAT- MEDLINE
DCOM- 20050616
LR  - 20071114
IS  - 0022-3085 (Print)
IS  - 0022-3085 (Linking)
VI  - 102
IP  - 4 Suppl
DP  - 2005 May
TI  - Risk of pediatric head injury after motor vehicle accidents.
PG  - 374-9
AB  - OBJECT: Injury to the brain as a result of motor vehicle accidents (MVAs) 
      represents a frequent cause of pediatric disability. The authors analyze the 
      correlation between the relative risk of pediatric brain injury and the use of 
      child safety seats (CSSs). METHODS: A national database of MVAs was examined to 
      provide data for the analysis of four age categories (infant, toddler, young 
      child, and adolescent) and four restraint categories (unrestrained, properly 
      restrained, improperly restrained, and other). The Abbreviated Injury Scale (AIS) 
      was used to assess the severity of head injury; children with no injuries and 
      children with moderate-to-maximum head injuries were evaluated. The data confirm 
      that proper use of a CSS substantially increases the likelihood of not sustaining 
      head injury in an MVA. The data are most dramatic for infants (the likelihood of 
      sustaining no head injury was 15.2% for unrestrained infants compared with 92.8% 
      for properly restrained infants) but the protective effect is seen in all age 
      categories, with the least difference observed in the adolescent category. For 
      children who sustain a moderate-to-maximum head injury, proper use of a CSS 
      reduces the incidence of injury, again most dramatically for the infant category 
      (unrestrained infants had a 7% risk of moderate-to-maximum head injury compared 
      with only 0.5% for properly restrained infants). CONCLUSIONS: Improvements in 
      CSSs have reduced the risk of moderate-to-maximum head injuries in children of 
      all age categories. Overall, a CSS is most protective for the infant and toddler 
      categories. The improperly restrained child still has substantial protection, 
      although the properly restrained child has more. Detailed parental education 
      regarding appropriate restraint system installation and use should be required.
FAU - Muszynski, Cheryl A
AU  - Muszynski CA
AD  - Department of Neurosurgery, Medical College of Wisconsin, Milwaukee, Wisconsin 
      53226, USA. cmuszynski@neuroscience.mcw.edu
FAU - Yoganandan, Narayan
AU  - Yoganandan N
FAU - Pintar, Frank A
AU  - Pintar FA
FAU - Gennarelli, Thomas A
AU  - Gennarelli TA
LA  - eng
GR  - R49 CCR519614/CC/ODCDC CDC HHS/United States
PT  - Journal Article
PT  - Research Support, N.I.H., Extramural
PT  - Research Support, U.S. Gov't, P.H.S.
PL  - United States
TA  - J Neurosurg
JT  - Journal of neurosurgery
JID - 0253357
SB  - IM
MH  - *Accidents, Traffic
MH  - Adolescent
MH  - Age Factors
MH  - Child
MH  - Child, Preschool
MH  - Craniocerebral Trauma/epidemiology/*etiology/prevention & control
MH  - Humans
MH  - Infant
MH  - Seat Belts/*standards/statistics & numerical data
EDAT- 2005/06/02 09:00
MHDA- 2005/06/17 09:00
CRDT- 2005/06/02 09:00
PHST- 2005/06/02 09:00 [pubmed]
PHST- 2005/06/17 09:00 [medline]
PHST- 2005/06/02 09:00 [entrez]
AID - 10.3171/ped.2005.102.4.0374 [doi]
PST - ppublish
SO  - J Neurosurg. 2005 May;102(4 Suppl):374-9. doi: 10.3171/ped.2005.102.4.0374.