[Spinal injuries in aircrews following ejection]

ABSTRACT

The high speed and low altitude led to military aircrafts operate necessitated designing and manufacturing new systems to escape aircrews. The most important and common escape system is ejection seat. Although the ejection seats saved many aircrews, but they are associated with many injuries including spinal fractures due to the severe loading exerted during ejection. There are many studies investigated the spinal fractures following ejection but our knowledge about the incidence, patterns and causes of these injuries are insufficient. Furthermore, the incidence of spinal fractures reported in current studies using modern ejection systems is high enough to remind that the design and structure of the current seats must be modified to reduce the number of ejectees suffering from spinal fractures which may be followed by spinal cord injuries. The purpose of current study was to briefly review the available reports about the incidence and causes of spinal fractures in ejectors