Injuries caused by brake pedal loading of the midfoot

NewsBot · Aug 1, 2012

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Injuries caused by brake pedal loading of the midfoot.
Funk JR, Rudd RW, King RJ, Srinivasan SC, Bailey AM, Crandall JR.
Biomed Sci Instrum. 2012;48:134-40.

In a frontal car crash, the drivers foot and ankle may be injured due to loading by the brake pedal. The driver of a vehicle often has time to initiate emergency braking before an impending collision, which places the forefoot or midfoot over the brake pedal. During the crash, the pedal may induce dorsiflexion and axial loading of the ankle due to forward motion of the occupant and rearward intrusion of the pedal relative to the vehicle. In order to investigate the injuries caused by pedal loading, impact tests were conducted on three cadaveric lower limbs. The limbs were braced at the knee, and a pedal positioned beneath the midfoot was driven towards the knee, inducing dorsiflexion and axial loading of the cadaveric limb. Ankle injury was generated in two specimens. Both injured limbs sustained a medial malleolar fracture, and one limb also suffered a talar neck fracture. These results suggest that pedal loading may be an important injury mechanism for fractures of the medial malleolus and talar neck in drivers involved in frontal crashes
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Admin2 · Aug 1, 2012

Related threads:
Other threads tagged with cycling

efuller · Aug 2, 2012

Admin2 said: ↑

Related threads:
Other threads tagged with cycling
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2 points.

1) I wonder if they put tension on the Achilles when they did the cadaver tests.
2) Admin, are you using coaster brakes on your bicycle?

Eric

Bill Bird · Aug 8, 2012

I see a lot of Road Traffic Injuries and a straight head on collision is rare. The assumption is correct that the driver's foot is usually hard on the brake but the majority of high speed head-ons are corner to corner and so there rapid spin on the car and a rotational thrust on the foot and ankle in a plane similar to that of the road. This rotation is as great as the trust straight into the pedal. The results are complex breaks that don't fit into any predictable pattern from on RTA to the next.

Motorcycles RTAs are much more predictable. About half will be a crush between the gear box and the bumper of the car with shear injuries due to the speed of the biker.

NewsBot · Apr 9, 2014

Modelling of forefoot injuries caused by brake pedal loading – a finite element analysis case study
Bisola Mutingwende, Robert Ashford, Clive Neal-Sturgess, Maxine Lintern and Jens Lahr
Journal of Foot and Ankle Research 2014, 7(Suppl 1):A59 doi:10.1186/1757-1146-7-S1-A59

Introduction
Lower extremity injuries, in particular the foot/ankle are one of the most common in automotive crashes.[1] Although not life threatening, they can lead to long term medical complications or permanent disability[²]. In most cases foot and/or ankle fractures are caused during frontal automotive crashes, while the driver attempts an emergency brake and the foot is subject to crash loading [³]. In these cases, fractures of the forefoot, in particular the metatarsals are very common [4] and range from simple fractures to severe crush injuries [5]. The location of metatarsal fractures in a car crash victim can be dictated by the loading pattern [5]. However, there is little information about whether the pedal has an effect on the mechanism or extent of injury. In order to evaluate the effect of brake pedal loading on the injury tolerance of the metatarsal, a computer based finite element analysis was performed to assess the regional capabilities in terms of loading transmission around the forefoot.

Methods
A Finite Element (FE) model of the foot and ankle was developed from a 3D reconstruction of CT images [6] of a female subject using Simpleware (Simpleware® Ltd) segmentation software. The model was then imported into ANSYS Workbench for FE analysis (ANSYS® Academic Research, Release 14.0). Material properties for the analysis were assumed to be homogenous and linearly isotropic. The cortical and simple ligamentous structures attaching the bones together were modelled. Variable pedal forces obtained from automobile crash data were applied to the forefoot region (i.e. ball of the foot) of the model, and the loading patterns of stress were analysed.

Results
The maximum stresses and angles of deflection were obtained from applying a range of pedal forces (2kN-10kN). The resultant predicted loading patterns for the metatarsals were then analysed. The highest stresses were found at the smallest cross-sections of the metatarsals. Although bending stresses increase with increasing distance from the point of load application, the larger cross-sections compensate for this effect.

Conclusion
The results of the current study show that the locations of the maximum stresses appear on the second and third metatarsals. This compares with findings from crash data.
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