Two open forearm fractures after airbag deployment during low speed accidents

Automotive airbags effectively mitigate the impact of vehicular collision by absorbing and distributing a force that otherwise would be sustained by the occupants. To be effective, inflation must be instantaneous and sufficient to provide restraint to a moving body. Deployment of automotive airbags is a violent event that may cause injury to the occupants of the vehicle. This report describes two patients with severe, open radius and ulna fractures that were caused by airbag inflation during low velocity motor vehicle accidents. The degree of soft tissue injury and bone comminution in these patients was not fully appreciated until surgery. Orthopaedic surgeons should be aware of the explosive nature of airbag deployment and realize that the injury may be far greater than expected from a low energy motor vehicle accident.