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Published on: September 21, 2017
Potential for head injuries in infants from low-height falls
Brittany Coats1, Susan S Margulies
1Department of Bioengineering, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 19104-6321, USA.
Insights
Researchers studied infant falls to understand impact forces and angular accelerations. Findings provide crucial data for distinguishing accidental from inflicted injuries in children.
Area of Science:
- Biomechanics
- Pediatric Trauma
- Injury Prevention
Background:
- Falls are a leading cause of injury in young children and a common factor in child abuse investigations.
- Understanding the biomechanics of falls is crucial for differentiating accidental injuries from inflicted trauma in clinical settings.
Purpose of the Study:
- To quantify the impact forces and three-dimensional (3D) angular accelerations experienced by infants during low-height falls.
- To establish objective biomechanical data for the assessment of head injuries in infants.
Main Methods:
- Utilized an instrumented anthropomorphic infant surrogate to record data.
- Simulated falls from heights of 0.3 to 0.9 meters onto various surfaces: mattress, carpet pad, and concrete.
Main Results:
- Fall height significantly influenced peak angular acceleration and impact force on carpet pads and concrete, but not on mattresses.
- Carpet pad compression limited differences in angular acceleration between 0.6m and 0.9m drops.
- Axial angular acceleration was found to be equal to or greater than sagittal angular acceleration.
Conclusions:
- This study presents the first 3D angular acceleration and impact force data for infant head impacts from low-height falls.
- Future research will use this data to develop computational models predicting skull fracture risk.
- The findings will aid clinicians in evaluating infant head injuries and inform the design of safer child environments.
Object:
Falls are the most common accident scenario in young children as well as the most common history provided in child abuse cases. Understanding the biomechanics of falls provides clinicians with objective data to aid in their diagnosis of accidental or inflicted trauma. The objective of this study was to determine impact forces and angular accelerations associated with low-height falls in infants.
Methods:
An instrumented anthropomorphic infant surrogate was created to measure the forces and 3D angular accelerations associated with falls from low heights (0.3-0.9 m) onto a mattress, carpet pad, or concrete.
Results:
Although height significantly increased peak angular acceleration (alpha(p)), change in peak-to-peak angular velocity, time duration associated with the change in velocity, and peak impact force (F(p)) for head-first drops onto a carpet pad or concrete, none of these variables were significantly affected by height when dropped onto a mattress. The alpha(p) was not significantly different for drops onto a carpet pad and concrete from 0.6 or 0.9 m due to compression of the carpet pad. Surprisingly, sagittal alpha(p) was equaled or surpassed by axial alpha(p).
Conclusions:
These are the first 3D angular acceleration and impact force data available for head impact in infants from low-height falls. A future study involving a computational model of the infant head will use the loads measured in this study to predict the probability of occipital skull fracture on impact from head-first low-height falls. Together, these studies will provide data that will aid clinicians in the evaluation of accidental and inflicted head injuries, and will contribute to the design of safer environments for children.
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