SPOTLIGHT ON RESEARCH

Being trapped following a motor vehicle collision (MVC) provides its own set of challenges for the patient and the rescuers. Fire and rescue service (FRS) extrication strategies have developed on the basis of minimal patient movement in order to avoid exacerbation of potential spinal injury. These procedures mandate that all casualties should be treated as if they have a spinal injury until proven otherwise. Despite this, our understanding of the type and rate of spinal injuries in those trapped following an MVC is limited as is our understanding of the type and rate of time-critical injuries within the entrapment group. The research team argues that without this understanding, extrication approaches cannot be contextualised or understood in terms of potential benefits and harms to our patients.

This retrospective database study interrogated the Trauma Audit and Research Network (TARN) database. Patients were included if they were admitted to an English hospital following an MVC from 2012 to 2018. In total, 426 135 major trauma cases were identified, of which 63 625 patients were included: 6983 trapped and 56 642 not trapped.