Arm and Leg Injury Mechanisms And Injury Criteria

Sections

• Arm and Leg Injury Types and Locations

• Arm and Leg Injury Mechanisms

• Arm and Leg Injury Criteria

• Arm and Leg Tolerance Levels

Definition And Anatomy

The arms and legs, or body extremities, encompass all the bones, joints and soft tissue associated with the arms, including the shoulder joint and clavicle, and legs excluding the actual pelvis or hip joint.

The skeletal bones of the arms and legs consist of two main types.

• Long Bones – The major load bearing bones consisting of the, femur, tibia and fibula in the legs and clavicle, and humerus, radius and ulna in the arm.  These are jointed at either end and have the main ligament, tendon and muscle attachments which allow movement and locomotion of the arms and legs

• Hand / wrist and ankle / foot bones – These are complexes of small bones with complicated joints to allow the dexterity in the hands and feet plus the capability of transferring high loads to the arm and leg long bones

Fractures to the long bones occur mainly due to direct impact, while fractures to the joints, ankle and wrist occur from indirect loads due to falling and stumbling.

The soft tissues include all the muscles, tendons, ligaments, joint cartilages and the skin.  The tendons, ligaments, and joint cartilages are damaged either in high compressive loads or excessive joint articulations, while the muscles and skin are damaged by penetrations by blunt or sharp objects including pieces of fractured bone.