Intensive Care Nursing/Trauma/Mechanism of Injury

Mechanism of Injury



Kinematics

Branch of mechanics that describes motion, so in this context the movement and interaction in collisions.

Newton's First Law of Motion

An object either remains at rest or continues to move at a constant velocity, unless acted upon by an external force.

Forces can be blunt or penetrating. Some of the forces involved in the mechanism of injuryː


 * Acceleration
 * Deceleration
 * Combination of acceleration and deceleration
 * Rotational
 * Deformation
 * Velocity and speed

Injury Mechanism:


 * An accelerating/decelerating injury occurs when there is direct contact producing an abrupt change in speed.
 * A shearing injury occurs when two oppositely directed and parallel forces are applied to tissue.
 * A compression injury is caused when squeezing forces push inward pressure onto the tissues.