In this scientific poster, a study is presented in two parts to examine two fundamental questions aimed at elucidating the net effect of frontal airbags on eye injury patterns: Part 1: Do occupants exposed to frontal airbag deployments have a higher incidence of eye injuries compared to similar occupants not exposed to frontal airbags; and Part 2: What are the patterns and associated severity of eye injuries in frontal crashes with and without airbags? The National Automotive Sampling System (NASS) was searched from 1993 through 1999, based on the following selection criteria: passenger cars and light trucks, frontal impacts (the principal direction of force (PDOF) 11, 12 or 1), excluding rollovers and ejected occupants, and limited to drivers and front seat passengers. In Part 2, a new eye injury grouping method was developed to assess the severity of the eye injury based on both the need for ocular surgery and the potential for loss of sight. This was used to augment the Abbreviated Injury Scale (AIS) and the Injury Impairment Scale (IIS), which do not address both of these criteria. The AIS code for each eye injury defined in Part 1 was placed in one of four new eye injury severity levels. The study illustrates that occupants exposed to an airbag deployment may have a higher risk of sustaining an eye injury than occupants not exposed to an airbag deployment. However, the airbag appears to provide a beneficial exchange by decreasing the risk of the more severe eye injuries. Establishment of the new eye injury severity levels allows for the more accurate estimation of eye trauma and introduces a new tool for evaluating the patterns of automobile related eye injuries based on AIS.
Abstract