Injury
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Details are given of the injuries sustained by 402 car drivers, 209 front seat passengers and 147 back seat passengers involved in road accidents during the two 4-month periods before and after the introduction of the compulsory wearing of seat belts on 1 February 1983. Comparisons are made between the injury patterns in those wearing and not wearing seat belts and in back seat passengers.
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A total of 136 patients required an anaesthetic to enable distal fractures of the forearm to be reduced. There were no significant differences in the numbers requiring remanipulation between the three methods employed: haematoma block, Bier's block or general anaesthesia. The advantages of the haematoma block are discussed.
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Four cases of fracture of the body of the sternum associated with the use of a static type of seat belt are reported. We wish to draw attention to an easily missed fracture in patients surviving a road traffic accident.