Related Experiment Video
Updated: Sep 18, 2026
A Test Bed to Examine Helmet Fit and Retention and Biomechanical Measures of Head and Neck Injury in Simulated Impact
Published on: September 21, 2017
Incidence of ocular injuries in motor vehicle crash victims with concomitant air bag deployment
Steven K Anderson1, Uday R Desai, Sundara V Raman
1Eye Care Service, Henry Ford Hospital, Detroit, Michigan 48202, USA. skentanderson@hotmail.com
Objective:
To report the incidence of ocular and nonocular trauma in patients admitted to the Henry Ford Hospital via the emergency room since 1994 after a motor vehicle crash (MVC) with and without air bag deployment.
Design:
A retrospective cohort study.
Methods:
The Henry Ford Hospital Trauma Registry database was reviewed for patients involved in MVCs with and without air bag deployment since 1994.
Results:
From 1994 to 1999, there were only seven air bag-related ocular injuries, representing 4.4% of all MVC-related ocular injuries. From 1997 to 1999, MVC-related ocular injuries with and without air bags represented 5.0% and 12.7%, respectively, of all MVC-related injuries. For that same period, the death rate and average Injury Severity Score for MVCs with air bag deployment were 3.4% and 10.75, compared with 8% and 14.5, respectively, for MVCs without air bag deployment.
Conclusions:
MVC-related ocular injuries associated with air bag deployment are rare, and the incidence of ocular injuries associated with MVCs was lower when air bags were deployed.
