UM SOM: National Study Center for Trauma (NSC)

Crash Injury Research and Engineering Network (CIREN)

The primary objective of CIREN is to reduce death, disability and costs arising from serious motor vehicle crashes, and to improve understanding of how injuries occur.

As one of seven CIREN Centers nationwide, the Maryland NCS is participating in a multi-center study of injuries sustained in vehicular crashes. Our NSC focuses its research on patients who have sustained injuries to their lower extremities. The study, funded by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) is confined to late-model passenger vehicles, so that recent safety innovations are present.

In a study published in the Journal of Trauma, the NSC documented unexpected physical and psychosocial outcomes resulting from lower-extremity injuries, such as depression and post-traumatic stress disorder. Recent NSC initiatives in CIREN have involved the analyses of six-month and one-year post-injury interview data.

As part of the CIREN project, the NSC has been asked by the NHTSA to ascertain economic costs and long-term outcomes associated with lower-extremity injuries. Findings were published in a report sponsored by the NHTSA: "CIREN Report: Consequences and Costs of Lower-Extremity Injuries."

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