Question

Your patient, a 29-year-old female, was the front seat passenger in a vehicle that was struck in the passenger's side door by another vehicle that ran a red light. Which of the following is most likely to have occurred?

A. The patient's body was pushed forcefully out from under her head, causing injury to the cervical spine.
B. The patient took the "up and over" pathway, striking her head on the windshield.
C. The patient impacted the steering wheel with her chest, causing a fracture of the sternum.
D. The patient took the "down and under" pathway, causing trauma to her lower extremities.

Answer 1

Option A, an injury to the cervical spine, is the most likely occurrence when a patient's vehicle is struck on the passenger’s side door, due to the lateral impact causing the patient's body to be pushed out from under her head.

Step-by-step explanation:

The question relates to the likely injuries sustained by a patient in a vehicle collision where the patient was seated in the front passenger seat, and the vehicle was struck on the passenger's side door. Given the description of the accident, the most likely injury to have occurred is A. The patient's body was pushed forcefully out from under her head, causing injury to the cervical spine. This type of injury is consistent with lateral impact collisions, where the force comes from the side, potentially causing whiplash or other types of cervical spine injuries.

Considering other options; B is less likely since the patient was a front seat passenger and not the driver, therefore, she wouldn't impact the windshield. C is also incorrect because the patient was not in the driver’s seat, so would not impact the steering wheel. D refers to a 'down and under' pathway which is associated with trauma to the lower extremities, often seen in frontal collisions, but this does not apply since the impact was on the side of the vehicle.