Talks
Presentation Type
Oral Presentation
Discipline Track
Community/Public Health
Abstract Type
Research/Clinical
Abstract
Background: It is known the pattern and severity of injuries sustained during a motor vehicle accident depend on many variables. An interesting avenue for research is obesity as a positive or negative modifier for injury distribution patterns in MVA. We hypothesize that body mass index (BMI) will influence MVC related injury patterns.
Methods: We queried STRAC data for DHR - Edinburg for the years 2014 to 2018 using CPT codes for MVC/MVA, IS > 8, age 15 - 64. Interactions between injury location, BMI, seatbelt and gender were analyzed.
Results: We had 191 detailed crashes, we found increasing age to be protective for abdomen and pelvis (OR .94), increasing BMI to be predisposing for extremity injuries (OR 1.06) and increasing BMI and female gender together to be protecting for head and neck injury (OR .98). Patient without abdominal injuries were younger with lower BMI. However sample size small (46).
Conclusion: BMI seems to have an exacerbating effect on extremity injuries and a protective effect for head and neck injuries driven predominantly by females. We believe this likely due to increase in momentum effect of each appendage and a decrease in torque of neck. Age seems to be a protective and we believe this is primarily due to hormonal deposition of adipose tissue. Overall it remains important to maintain a high index of suspicion when dealing with MVC triage patients and treat each individually.
Academic/Professional Position
Resident
Mentor/PI Department
Surgery
Recommended Citation
Flores, George A.; Torres-Reveron, Annelyn; and Barreda, Raul, "The “cushion effect” revisited:" (2023). Research Symposium. 46.
https://scholarworks.utrgv.edu/somrs/theme1/track1/46
Included in
The “cushion effect” revisited:
Background: It is known the pattern and severity of injuries sustained during a motor vehicle accident depend on many variables. An interesting avenue for research is obesity as a positive or negative modifier for injury distribution patterns in MVA. We hypothesize that body mass index (BMI) will influence MVC related injury patterns.
Methods: We queried STRAC data for DHR - Edinburg for the years 2014 to 2018 using CPT codes for MVC/MVA, IS > 8, age 15 - 64. Interactions between injury location, BMI, seatbelt and gender were analyzed.
Results: We had 191 detailed crashes, we found increasing age to be protective for abdomen and pelvis (OR .94), increasing BMI to be predisposing for extremity injuries (OR 1.06) and increasing BMI and female gender together to be protecting for head and neck injury (OR .98). Patient without abdominal injuries were younger with lower BMI. However sample size small (46).
Conclusion: BMI seems to have an exacerbating effect on extremity injuries and a protective effect for head and neck injuries driven predominantly by females. We believe this likely due to increase in momentum effect of each appendage and a decrease in torque of neck. Age seems to be a protective and we believe this is primarily due to hormonal deposition of adipose tissue. Overall it remains important to maintain a high index of suspicion when dealing with MVC triage patients and treat each individually.