Type:
Educational Exhibit
Keywords:
Emergency Imaging, Abdomen, Arteries / Aorta, Musculoskeletal spine, CT, Education, Acute, Not applicable
Authors:
G. Lie , A. Wilson, D. Patel, S. Karamsadkar, S. G. Cross; London/UK
DOI:
10.26044/ecr2020/C-10162
Background
•In the UK, legislation enforcing mandatory seatbelt use for front-seat (1983) and rear-seat passengers (1991) has been responsible for saving over 50 000 lives. It is estimated that lack of seatbelt use has been implicated in a third of fatal road traffic accidents in the UK1,2
•However the restraint offered by the seatbelt can itself be a source of injury, causing sudden deceleration which can result in translational and shearing forces
•The seatbelt syndrome describes a specific constellation of injuries associated with the use of seatbelts, in the context of a frontal impact road traffic accident (RTA). The seatbelt syndrome was first described in 1968 in relation to bowel injury3
•The presence of one injury should prompt a thorough search for other associated injuries related to the syndrome, some of which can be life-threatening.
•Early detection of these injuries can expedite and aid in planning for appropriate clinical management