Environmental Factors Flashcards
How can mechanical trauma produce damage?
- cutting, tearing, or crushing tissues
- severe blood loss
- interruption of blood or air supply
What are skin and soft tissue terminology (mechanical trauma)?
- incision
- abrasion or scrape
- laceration
- puncture
- contusion
incision
clean cut by a sharp object
abrasion or scrape
superficial tearing away of epidermal cells
laceration
jagged tear, often with stretching of the underlying tissue
puncture
deep tubular wound produced by a sharp, thin object
contusion
- bruise caused by disruption of underlying small blood vessels
- commonly involves skin but may also involve internal organs
What are bone and tendon terminology (mechanical trauma)?
- fracture
- acute musculotendinous injuries
- chronic musculoskeletal injuries
fracture
break of a bone
- closed or compound
- often bleeding into surrounding muscle, other tissues
What are acute musculotendinous injuries?
torn muscle fibers, ruptured tendons, dislocated joints
What are chronic musculoskeletal injuries?
- osteoarthritis of joints
- thickening of tendon sheaths (e.g. repetitive strain)q
What are mechanical trauma causes of death?
- hemorrhage into body cavities
- fat embolism from bone fractures
- ruptured viscera
- secondary infection
- renal shutdown (acute tubular necrosis especially myoglobin casts arise from crush injury of skeletal mm.)
What are blunt force injuries to the head?
head injury
- brain damage with possible skull fracture
- brain laceration
- brain contusion
What can cause brain damage with possible skull fracture
- cerebral trauma
2. intracranial hemorrhage
What is a brain laceration?
fracture–> penetrating injury by skull fragments
What is a brain contusion?
-may occur at point of impact (coup injury) or opposite side of brain (contrecoup injury)
blunt force abdominal injury can result in
- contusion
- rupture of spleen or liver sometimes with severe hemorrhage
- rupture of the intestine can result in peritonitis
blunt force thoracic injury
rib fracture
-penetration into pulmonary parenchyma
or thoracic wall vessels
rib fracture penetration into pulmonary parenchyma
pneumothorax
- air in the pleural cavity
- lung collapse
- shift of mediastinum and circulatory disturbances
What can penetration into thoracic wall vessels lead to?
hemothorax
-hemorrhage in the pleural cavity
knife and stab wounds
- incisions or puncture wounds
- result in highly variable consequences depending on site of injury
entrance wound on gunshot
usually smaller and rounder than exit wound (can be smaller than bullet due to skin elasticity
exit wound of gunshot
- can be significantly larger than the bullet due to tumbling of the bullet
- usually irregular or stellate rather than round
contact wound of gunshot
- there may be burning around the margins of the wound (abrasion ring)
- over the skull, and other areas with skin closely overlying bone, may demonstrate stellate appearance due to gases from the gun undermining skin margins
close range gunshot wounds (20” or less)
- demonstrate unburned powder
- particles in skin tattooing or stippling
- deposits of soot on skin
long range gun wound
- usually round or oval
- clean margins
- no evidence of stippling or fouling
What are the effects of mechanical trauma?
inflammation= always present
necrosis=results in loss of tissue
hemorrhage= blood loss leading to compression, asphyxia, coma
infection= organisms can proliferate in wound, decontamination, debridement necessary to prevent infection
thrombosis= clot leading to infarction or embolism
shock= severe trauma-> circulatory disturbance-> renal and respiratory failure, brain damage
chronic low grade mechanical traumaeffects
- results in proliferation of tissue
- ex. epulis fissuratum
- epithelial and fibrous hyperplasia
- proliferation of tissue in the vestibule
- due to poor fitting denture with an extended flange area
1st degree burns (partial thickness burns)
- hyperemia without significant epi. damage
- generally heal without intervention
2nd degree burns (partial thickness burns)
- blistering (bulla), destruction of epidermis
- slight damage to underlying dermis
- generally heal without intervention
3rd degree burns (full thickness burns)
- damage to epidermis, dermis, and dermal appendages
- skin and underlying tissue often charred and blackened
- often requires skin grafting
superficial burns
- 1st and 2nd degree burns
- epithelium can regenerate
- painful but not serious
deep burns
- 3rd degree burns
- all epithelium destroyed
- dermis and appendages damaged
- heals by scarring
- may result in contractures of joints and disfigurement
thermal injury from heat complications
- inhalation of smoke or toxic fumes
- hypovolemia
- curling ulcer
- infection
inhalation of smoke or toxic fumes
pulmonary or systemic damage
hypovolemia
fluid and electrolyte loss
curling ulcer
acute duodenum ulcer associated with severe burns
infection
- most common cause of late fatalities
- most frequent organism pseudomonas aeruginosa
death from thermal injury
- dependent on percentage of body burned
- mortality
- 40% of body burned (death possible)
- 60% of body burned (death 100%)
What can cause early death from thermal injury?
fluid loss which can cause shock
What can cause late death from thermal injury
due to infection in weeks or months
treatment of thermal injury
extensive grafting
frostnip
prolonged immersion in cold–> damaged endothelium with edema and swelling (leakage of fluid)
frostbite
-may be localized and usually affects exposed areas (fingers, toes, earlopes, or nose)
-severe, prolonged frostbite may result in
- erythema and pruritus
- intracellular ice crystals
- intravascular thrombosis
- sometimes local gangrene
- may be generalized and lead to death
electrical injury (burns and shock)
-electric current passes through an individual (electric circuit completed)
mortality
current passing through brain or heart
morbidity
- cessation of activity in cardiorespiratory brain centers
- cardiac arrest and arrhythmias
- small cutaneous burns with blister (vesicle, bulla) formation- point of entry or exit of the electric current
- at times burns may be severe
UV radiation injury
- mostly sun damage to skin and eyes
- acute injury of skin
- chronic injury of skin
acute injury of skin
- sunburn (1st degree)
- onset of delayed vascular dilation–> erythema
- often superficial desquamation
- severe cases–> blister formation
chronic injury of skin
- collagen and elastic tissue damage
- epithelial changes
- cosmetic damage-wrinkling
- precancerous lesions- actinic keratosis
- cancerous-basal cell carcinoma, squamous cell carcinoma, melanoma
ultraviolet irradiation injury mechanism
absorption of UV light by DNA–> DNA fractures or changes in sequences
irradiation injury examples
- x-ray, radioactive waste, nuclear disasters
- short wavelength, high frequency (x-rays and gamma rays, particulate radiation (electrons, protons, and neutrons))
transfer of energy to molecules leads to ionization
-molecules reactive and capable of doing
-damage
damage cells–> toxic free radicals
toxic free radicals
affect vital cell components (DNA and intracellular membranes)
damage to the DNA (ionizing radiation)
- direct action (hit) on vital molecule
- indirect action (ionization of water–> free radicals–> damage to vital molecules)
- damage repairable but very slow