Patterns of Anatomical Injury Severity to Different Types of Road Users in Road Crashes

Detailed injury descriptions from road crashes are essential for road injury prevention analysis. This study aims to describe the anatomical injury severity of the victims and its relation to the types of road users. Injury data and diagnoses were collected from the accident and emergency departments from hospitals in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. A total of 14,196 victims were enrolled, of which 173 (1.22%) suffered major trauma (ISS ≥ 16). Severe injuries in this study are defined as victims with any injury of AIS score ≥ 3 on at least one of the body region. A majority of vehicle occupants sustained external injuries (34.4%) while severe injuries commonly occurred to the head region with internal organs the most frequently (73.5%) injured; specifically cerebrum subdural hematoma. Most frequent region of injury for motorcyclists commonly found at the lower extremity region (27%), in which abrasion is the common type of injury. Severe injuries to motorcyclists also frequently occur at the lower extremity region (43.4%) and head (42.8%). Severe head injuries to motorcyclist were common at the cerebrum section. Pedestrian injuries frequently occur at the lower extremity region (32%); majority suffering fibula fracture while severe injuries commonly occurred to the cerebrum part of the head region. Findings from this study show underlying patterns of injuries sustained by each type of road users and would be useful in helping researchers and engineers design a new and improved safety device that can help reduce injuries in future road crashes.