A 32 years old male was involved in an MVC where he was in the front seat as a passenger and had his seatbelt on. It was a direct front collision. The patient is stable. He is in moderate pain. Displacement of the lower part of the sternum as well as a retrosternal hematoma was noted after the ED care.
Trauma care is very important as globally recognized. It is also important to prevent injury. Seat belts are doing their part to prevent further injury. However, they may not be protective, or even cause injury if the other prevention measures were not applied such as speed limit.
This case shows dramatic skin lesions caused by the seatbelt. You can see various images of this in the clinical image archive (just click the image). What seatbelt sign says to us? INVESTIGATE FURTHER INNER INJURY… This patient has neck, chest, abdomen skin findings. Therefore, vascular injuries (aorta, vein), viscus injuries (perforation, bleeding), solid organ lacerations (spleen, liver, pancreas), contusions (cardiac) in the neck, chest, and abdomen should be investigated.
To learn more about trauma management read below chapter.
Multiple Trauma by Pia Jerot and Gregor Prosen by Dan O’Brien
