gms | German Medical Science

Introduction: Approximately 1.3 million people die each year on the world's roads and 20 to 50 million sustain non-fatal injuries [1]. Both the car industry and trauma surgeons have a vested interest in seeing these numbers reduced. Audi Accident Research Unit (AARU) was formed to increase general safety in traffic, advance safety systems of current and future AUDI automobiles, and contribute to the development of efficient driver assistance systems. AO Clinical Investigation and Documentation (AOCID) is a not-for-profit provider of Evidence-Based Medicine, clinical studies and related services for better patient outcomes.

Objectives: AARU and AOCID began cooperating with one another in 2011 to investigate areas of potential collaboration between both bodies.

Methods: Contact was established between AARU and AOCID as a result of personal introductions made at the AO Davos courses in December 2010. Members of both teams met in Bavaria in spring 2011 and presented their respective activities. During discussions, areas of possible cooperation were identified and the next steps defined.

Results: It was quickly realized that AARU tracks a patient’s progress from immediately prior to the accident until hospitalization, while AOCID follows a patient from the time they are enrolled onto a study in the clinic until their case is closed. Theoretically, by fusing the information they both collect, AARU and AOCID could potentially establish a fuller patient history, covering the period from just before the moment of injury to full recovery. The main areas of immediate collaboration which were identified were – a fellowship program whereby AARU sent an AARU affiliated-doctor to AOCID to analyze data from a nationwide registry of 16,360 automobile accidents occurring between 1980 and 2010 in Germany to gain insights into the risk of sustaining a fracture following a car accident. A peer-reviewed publication on this research is pending. The AARU-affiliated doctor also received training in clinical research from the AOCID team. To raise awareness of the work they do and to gain expert input, AARU presented their traffic accident case discussion (with surgical, technical and psychological inputs) at the AO courses in Davos in December 2011 to an audience of several hundred surgeons. The format of these collision case discussions mirror the case discussions carried out at AO courses worldwide.

Thanks to the collaboration, both AARU and AOCID realize the potential for even more in-depth work on the analysis of fractures sustained in automobile accidents. They are continuing to deepen their collaboration through new fellowships and research projects based on data already collected and insights developed as a result of the collaborative partnership.

Conclusion: Successful collaboration between the automobile industry and medicine is possible if personal relationships are created, areas of common interest can be identified, trust is established, and crucially, if financial support is available. Such interdisciplinary work contributes to the goal of the Decade of Action for Road Safety to prevent five million road traffic deaths globally by 2020.