Safety expectations

[Winger]

Do you have any evidence to support this? I'm seriously asking, not trying to be funny.

I've researched it. I don't have any text books but you can find information on the internet. Actually, you can go to http://safeisfast.com/ and watch the safety video. I don't remember if they actually mention the size aspect but they do mention the length of the head being different, thus kids requiring a special helmet. I'll see if I can find some sources online when I get a chance.

[al_tere_go_05]

it will work with any seat.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bFOprqPmgqQ

[Lurkin]

I watched them I don't see any evidence to support your claims saying basically adults would've lived. If you have any hard evidence please post.

[Winger]

I watched them I don't see any evidence to support your claims saying basically adults would've lived. If you have any hard evidence please post.

I'm pasting part of a study on cervical spine injuries. I haven't had a chance to do a search specifically. I should have bookmarked it or saved a copy a few years ago when I was doing this. Perhaps I overstated this by saying an adult probably would have lived in these specific circumstances but the study shows they have a better chance of living. Be aware that there are 3 different age groups. There's a young group that's basically under age 11, and middle group from 11 through adolescents and then adults. This study covers different types of spinal injuries but doesn't specifically discuss the basal skull fracture, which is basically a spinal fracture at C1. I know I saw a specific study related to basal skull fractures and children vs. adults. I just have to find it.

This came from: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science...72346105000693


Discussion
Anatomy
The anatomy of the paediatric cervical spine differs from that of an adult.

Head size is disproportionately larger than the body compared to an adult, neck musculature is not fully developed, there is greater laxity of spinal ligaments, vertebral bodies are wedge shaped and articular surfaces are horizontally angled. It has been suggested that the pivot point is located high in the cervical spine of a young child so combined with the above features, ligamentous injuries are frequently encountered high in the cervical spine in younger patients.10

It has been suggested that characteristics of cervical spine injuries in children do not trend towards those of an adult until 10–11 years of age, and do not equal those characteristics until late adolescence.9

Most studies comparing cervical spine injuries in children take these factors into consideration. They tend to divide children into two distinct groups, a younger (usually up to 8 or 10 years old) group and an older age group, with the older group having more adult cervical spine characteristics.

Pattern of injury
Compared to adults, children have a different pattern with regard to the level and type of cervical spine injury.

Several studies have demonstrated that younger children are more likely to sustain injuries to the upper cervical spine rather than the lower cervical spine.1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 9, 10 and 11

One retrospective study of 227 patients found that of the 38 patients younger than 8 years of age, 87% had an injury at C3 or higher.11 This is similar to another retrospective study of 408 children who suffered blunt cervical spine injury where they found a significant difference in that younger (less than or equal to 10 years of age) children more often sustained high (C1–C4) versus low (C5–C7) injuries when compare to older children (85.3% versus 56.9%; P < 0.01). 9

Level of injury in our audit follows similar patterns, with all of the fractures or subluxations in the younger age group occurring in the upper cervical spine. In the older age group fractures and subluxations occurred at all levels.

Compared to older children, younger children tend to have more subluxations or dislocations without fractures.9, 10 and 11

In their retrospective study of 408 children, Kokoska et al. found that younger children had a significantly higher incidence of dislocations (31.2% versus 20.4%; P < 0.01) and lower incidence of fractures (42.1% versus 65.1%; P < 0.01) when compared to older children. 9

Injuries are more common among males, and the male to female ratio varies from around 1.4:1 up to 2.5:1.1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 9, 10 and 11

The male preponderance has found to be more marked in an older age group of 9 years and older.11

SCIWORA is a phenomenon of spinal trauma with neurological injury but without fracture or dislocation, and is suggested to be more common in children. Kokoska et al. found the incidence of SCIWORA to be 18.9% with a significant difference between younger and older children (26.7% versus 14.5%; P < 0.01). 9 Incidence rates for SCIWORA have been reported to be even higher than this, although there is large variation between institutions. 12

Adult rates of SCIWORA were found to be about 3% (27 from 818 injuries) in the large prospective National Emergency X-Radiography Utilization Study (NEXUS).6

We found five cases of SCIWORA out of 22 injuries, which is comparable to previous studies.

Causes of injury

[Winger]

Here's another study but not the one I want. This one focuses a lot on the very young, i.e.: infants. It does have some neat diagrams showing differences in bodies though. It has a lot of information. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3400202/