Severe tyre blast injuries during servicing

BackgroundThe destructive potential of the tyre explosions has received little attention in the medical literature. Fatal and severely deforming injuries have been reported. These blasts mainly affect the personnel servicing big vehicle tyres such as trucks and buses. We aimed to review the relevant literature on tyre blast injuries so as to define the mechanism of injury, outcome, and its methods of prevention.MethodsA search of the English literature on tyre blast injuries was performed through Medline. Different studies were retrieved, analysed and combined together.ResultsA total of 763 patients were studied in the literature. Most of the patients were young aged male mechanics and the explosions usually occur during tyre servicing especially during inflation. Injury is caused by the pressure impact of the explosion or by direct hit of the rim. The head and face are the most commonly affected regions (48%) followed by the upper limbs (20%). About 25% of patients had multi-trauma. The overall mortality is high (19%) and is mainly caused by head injuries.ConclusionInflated large tyres contain a tremendous amount of potential energy. Tyre blast injuries during servicing have a high morbidity and mortality. Preventive occupational methods should be implemented.