The spleen is a frequently injured abdominal organ in road accidents, with an injury frequency close to 30%. The splenic avulsion exhibit a significant ratio of morbidity. It is clinically described as the complete failure of the pancreatico-splenic ligament (PSL) which is composed of splenic vessels and connective tissues. What are the biomechanical mechanisms involved with spleen avulsion? Is it possible to quantify tolerance levels of PSL structure? The current work combines both experimental and finite element (FE) investigations to determine the splenic avulsion process. Tensile tests on 13 PSL samples were performed up to failure. The experimental results provide reference data for model validation and showed a failure process starting at a peak force of 70±34 N combined with a peak strain of 105±26%. In an attempt to identify possible vessel ruptures within the PSL, a FE model of the PSL was developed including both vessels and connective tissues. The vessel wall behaviour up to failure was reproduced using an Ogden law and calibrated by inverse analysis according to literature data. The connective tissues function was modelled by a cohesion-loss interface. Once model correlation to experimental results was achieved, numerical simulation revealed that haemorrhage could occur even before the maximum peak is reached. Indeed, the first vessel ruptures were recorded at a strain of 92% at the upper lobe vein.
Road accidents can lead to abdominal injuries ranging from severe to lethal, that include hemorrhage of organs and their attachment system. A good understanding and prediction of abdominal injuries therefore requires investigation of the mechanical properties of the attachment systems of abdominal organs. In particular, the gastrocolic ligament (GCL) is one major link between the stomach and the transverse colon. This study aims to investigate the mechanical properties of the GCL under very low and high strain rate uniaxial tensile tests until failure. Thirty-five GCL samples were dissected from 7 embalmed cadavers and tested at a rate of 1 mm/s and 1 m/s. Incidence of freezing was also evaluated. The mechanical response of GCL samples showed an approximately bilinear curve. Within the first linear region (less than 5% of ligament strain), the apparent elastic modulus was estimated at 247±144 kPa, while in the second region, it was estimated at 690±282 kPa. The average failure stress (σfail) and failure strain (εfail) were 131.6±50 kPa and 29%±8%, respectively. High strain rate loading also showed high sensitivity to strain rate. The estimated GCL mechanical properties in this study can be implemented in finite element models of the abdomen to further investigate the mechanical contribution of the organ attachment system under traumatic loading conditions.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.