Does a neck segment exhibit the same vulnerability under various impact conditions

In pedestrian, cyclist and motorcyclist accidents, cervical spine injuries are often observed, with complex mechanisms occurring for multidirectional loadings. In this work, finite element analysis was used to predict the injury chronology and specific injured components of the cervical spine segment. Simulations of five different impact directions (frontal, lateral, rear, frontal oblique, rear oblique) were analyzed with an initial velocity of 5 m/s and 7 m/s. The first injuries recorded were ligament ruptures of the upper cervical spine and bone fractures of the lower cervical spine. Comparing these simulation results, the injuries under flexion mechanisms seem to be less severe than with extension or coupled kinematics. cervical spine; trauma; impact velocity; finite element simulation