[Incidence of acetabular fractures before and after introduction of compulsory seatbelt fastening].

The most common causes of acetabular fractures of the hip joint are high speed car accidents, most often as a result of a direct trauma against the knee. With these causal relations in mind this study wanted to show the preventive character of the law for obligatory safety-belt-wearing in Germany introduced in August 1984. Therefore we analyzed the incidence and the severity of acetabular fractures of the hip joint five years before and five years after 1984 within the group of patients treated by the traumatology department of the university hospital of Mainz. We found 54 patients with acetabular fractures of the hip joint, within a period of five years after 1984 in contrast to 84 injuries within an equal five year period before 1984. Car accidents where the cause of injury in 63 cases within the period of five years before 1984, and in 23 cases in the same period after 1984. Also the severity and complexity of these injuries decreased significantly. Therefore we consider the introduction of obligatory safety-belt-wearing in Western Germany as a good preventive measurement to reduce the incidence of acetabular fractures of the hip joint as a result of car accidents.