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124033

Patterns of Injuries in Fatal Fall from Height Cases in Gharbia Governorate: Autopsy Study

Article

Last updated: 22 Jan 2023

Subjects

-

Tags

• Violence, Assault and Injury, Domestic Violence

Abstract

Background: A fall is defined as an event in which a person inadvertently lands on the ground after falling from a higher place. It is the second most common cause of unintentional injury associated mortality after traffic accidents. Sometimes, when a body is brought for autopsy it is unclear whether injuries are due to a fall from a height or due to blunt trauma from other cause. Objectives: the aim of this study is to spot light on injuries in fatal falls from height so that any pattern which might help in discriminating between these injuries and injuries due to blunt trauma from other causes could be identified. Methods: This work included retrospective study of fatal fall from height cases which subjected to medico-legal autopsy in Tanta Department of Forensic Institute- Gharbia Governorate during the period from the start of January 2012 to the end of October 2015. In addition, a cross-sectional study with autopsy was carried out on fatal fall from height cases from the start of November 2015 to the end of October 2016. Results: The majority of cases (52.38%) were in the age group 20-40 years. Males registered 76.2% of cases. Urban areas recorded 64.3% of cases. Head first impact was noticed in 66.7% of cases. Poly-trauma was the cause of death in 76.2% of cases. Nearly all cases showed diffuse head injuries involving bones, meninges and brain and accompanying intracranial hemorrhage. The majority of cases registered negative drug screening. Conclusion: External injuries including abrasions, contusions and lacerations were diffusely involving different body regions except neck. Skull fractures are distributed evenly amongst vault and base. Polytrauma is the most predominant cause of death. After the brain, thoracic cage and lung injuries were encountered in more than half of the cases. Liver is the most common abdomino-pelvic organ involved.

DOI

10.21608/ejfsat.2020.40323.1165

Keywords

Fall from height, polytrauma, first impact, Forensic Institute, head injuries

Authors

First Name

Amira

Last Name

Ramadan

MiddleName

F.

Affiliation

Tanta Department of Forensic Institute, Gharbia Governorate, Egypt

Email

drmoro631985@gmail.com

City

Tanta

Orcid

-

First Name

Eman

Last Name

Soliman

MiddleName

M.

Affiliation

Forensic Medicine and Clinical Toxicology Department, Faculty of Medicine, Tanta University, Tanta, Egypt

Email

dr.emansoliman1960@gmail.com

City

Tanta

Orcid

-

First Name

Mona

Last Name

Abo El-Noor

MiddleName

M.

Affiliation

Forensic Medicine and Clinical Toxicology Department, Faculty of Medicine, Tanta University, Tanta, Egypt

Email

dr_moona2006@yahoo.com

City

Tanta

Orcid

-

First Name

Marwa

Last Name

Shahin

MiddleName

M.

Affiliation

Forensic Medicine and Clinical Toxicology Department, Faculty of Medicine, Tanta University, Tanta, Egypt.

Email

marwa.shahin@med.tanta.edu.eg

City

Alexandria

Orcid

0000-0001-6859-8641

Volume

20

Article Issue

4

Related Issue

18600

Issue Date

2020-12-01

Receive Date

2020-08-29

Publish Date

2020-12-01

Page Start

27

Page End

42

Print ISSN

1687-0875

Online ISSN

2535-1915

Link

https://ejfsat.journals.ekb.eg/article_124033.html

Detail API

https://ejfsat.journals.ekb.eg/service?article_code=124033

Order

4

Type

Original Article

Type Code

429

Publication Type

Journal

Publication Title

The Egyptian Journal of Forensic Sciences and Applied Toxicology

Publication Link

https://ejfsat.journals.ekb.eg/

MainTitle

-

Details

Type

Article

Created At

22 Jan 2023