The objective of this study was to determine response characteristics and injury of the shoulder due to lateral impacts. A pneumatic impacting ram was employed in carrying out twenty-two lateral impacts to eleven unembalmed human cadavers at the level of the glenohumeral joint. Velocity of the ram at the time of impact was varied throughout the impacts from 3.5 to 7.0 m/sec, in an attempt to determine injury threshold. Results from the evaluations were used to assess and compare properties of bones of the upper extremities. Observations from autopsy, magnetic resonance image (MRI), and radiography have shown looseness of the sternoclavicular joint and fracture of the distal clavicle to be the most common injuries. Significant findings include normalized shoulder force-deflection curves and probability of injury distribution.
Samenvatting