Airbags: benefits and risks in the pregnant population

Article type: Research Article

Authors: Aschkenazi, Sarit | Kovanda, Jan | Stingl, Josef | Karl, Jiri | Schoenfeld, Alex^;

Affiliations: Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Campus Beilinson – Rabin Medical Center, Sackler School of Medicine, Tel Aviv University, Israel | Department of Automobiles, Faculty of Mechanical Engineering, Czech Technical University, Prague, Czech Republic | Department of Pathology, 3rd Medical Faculty, Charles University, Prague, Czech Republic

Note: [] Correspondence to: Alex Schoenfeld, MD, Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Campus Beilinson – Rabin Medical Center, Sackler School of Medicine, Tel Aviv University, 49100 Petach‐Tiqva, Israel.

Abstract: Objective: To complete a review of the published literature of reported airbag injuries to automobile passengers in order to identify a potential injury mechanism that occurs when pregnant women are front passengers of vehicles equipped with an airbag. We review and discuss our own experience with a case of injuries sustained by a restrained, 30‐week‐pregnant woman driver associated with airbag deployment. Data sources: We searched MEDLINE and supplementary bibliographies, assessing all reports using the term “airbag injuries” published from 1974 to December 1997. Results: In Vehicle crash testing, airbags have shown exceptionally good performance in their ability to maintain dummy response values to levels generally regarded as tolerable to human beings. Although airbags are effective supplemental restraint systems and have saved many lives, airbags have the potential to inflict serious injuries. Pregnant women deserve special consideration with regard to injuries sustained from deployment of an airbag module. When the occupant is in the path of a deploying airbag, the deployment energy is added to the crash energy potentially causing direct injury to the occupant. Due to the proximity of the enlarged abdomen to the airbag module, a woman in the later stages of pregnancy has a substantially increased risk of sustaining an injury as a direct consequence of the airbag deployment. Conclusion: Each new innovation requires knowledge of its proper use and limitations, as well its risks and misuses. In the overwhelming majority of cases, airbags can significantly reduce the severity of injuries sustained in a frontal collision. However, in pregnant women the possibility exists for injuries associated with airbag deployment, and this technology has yet to be critically evaluated for the use with this population in particular. Some suggestions that obstetricians should tell their patients include first, and most obviously, to wear the seat belt including the shoulder belt. As for avoiding injuries from the airbag deployment it might be of benefit to move the seat as far from the dashboard as possible in order to increase the distance to the abdomen. Once it is possible to deactivate the airbag, in view of the possible hazards involved with inappropriate deployment of the airbag, it seems that it would be advantageous for the highly pregnant woman to do so. *12pt

Keywords: Vehicular trauma, pregnancy, airbag simulations, airbag injuries, vehicular restraint systems

Journal: International Journal of Risk and Safety in Medicine, vol. 11, no. 2, pp. 85-91, 1998