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1: Emerg Med J. 2007 Apr;24(4):237-8.Click here to read Links
Comment in:
Emerg Med J. 2008 Jan;25(1):59.

Suspension trauma.

Lee C, Porter KM.

Academic Department of Traumatology, Room 28, Institute of Research & Development, Birmingham Research Park, West Midlands, UK. drcarolinelee@hotmail.com

Suspension trauma (also known as "harness-induced pathology" or "orthostatic shock while suspended") is the development of presyncopal symptoms and loss of consciousness if the human body is held motionless in a vertical position for a period of time. It has been described in experiments of personal fall protection, and has been implicated in causes of death in mountaineering accidents, but it seems neither to be widely known about nor to have been presented to the medical profession. This article highlights the potential existence of suspension trauma and suggests that more robust medical research using modern harnesses and healthy volunteers would be beneficial to assess whether this is purely a theoretical risk.

PMID: 17384373 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]

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