Forensic Aspects of Trauma 2 Flashcards

1
Q

What are typical defensive type injuries?

A

Can be blunt or sharp force

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2
Q

What can defensive type injuries be classed as?

A
  • Passive
    • Victim raises arms and legs for protection
    • Sliced, shelved often with skin flaps over back of hands and forearms
  • Active
    • Victim tries to grab weapon or attackers hand
    • Sliced shelved incised wounds on palmer aspects of hands and web spaces between fingers
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3
Q

What are passive and active defensive type injuries?

A
  • Passive
    • Victim raises arms and legs for protection
    • Sliced, shelved often with skin flaps over back of hands and forearms
  • Active
    • Victim tries to grab weapon or attackers hand
    • Sliced shelved incised wounds on palmer aspects of hands and web spaces between fingers
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4
Q

How can you identify self-inflicted injuries?

A
  • Commonly sharp force
  • Site of election
    • Often wrists, forearms, chest and abdomen
  • Parallel, multiple and tentative incisions
  • Positions of clothing
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5
Q

What are common sites of injuries for self-inflicted injuries?

A
  • Often wrists, forearms, chest and abdomen
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6
Q

What do the consequences of an injury depend on?

A
  • Type of mechanical insult
    • Blunt, sharp, homicidal, suicide, accident etc
  • Nature of target tissue
    • Head, chest, abdomen, fat
  • Forces involved
    • High speed RTC, fall from height, kicking, stamping, punch
  • Number of impacts
    • Single vs multiple
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7
Q

What are examples of head injuries?

A
  • Standard skin injuries from before
  • Skull fractures
    • Linear, depressed
  • Bleeding over brain
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8
Q

What are the different kinds of skull fracture?

A
  • Linear, depressed
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9
Q

What is bleeding over the brain associated with?

A

Fractures

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10
Q
A
  • Subarachnoid
    • Often caused by aneurysm
    • But can also occur due to trauma, called traumatic subarachnoid haemorrhage
      • Usually due to punch at jaw, causing rapid rotational movement of head
      • Immediate unconsciousness and cardiac arrest, so suspected to be brainstem damage
  • Subdural
    • Venous blood so accumulates slow
  • Extradural
    • Arterial blood so accumulates quick
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11
Q

What is subarachnoid haemorrhage often caused by?

A
  • Often caused by aneurysm
  • But can also occur due to trauma, called traumatic subarachnoid haemorrhage
    • Usually due to punch at jaw, causing rapid rotational movement of head
    • Immediate unconsciousness and cardiac arrest, so suspected to be brainstem damage
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12
Q

What speed do the following present:

  • subarachnoid haemorrhage
  • subdural haemorrhage
  • extradural haemorrhage
A
  • Subarachnoid
    • Immediate unconsciousness and cardiac arrest, so suspected to be brainstem damage
  • Subdural
    • Venous blood so accumulates slow
  • Extradural
    • Arterial blood so accumulates quick
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13
Q

Do the following involve arterial or venous blood:

  • subdural haemorrhage
  • extradural haemorrhage
A
  • Subdural
    • Venous blood so accumulates slow
  • Extradural
    • Arterial blood so accumulates quick
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14
Q

How does the outcome of brain haemorrhage vary with volume of blood?

A
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15
Q

What is a brain diffuse injury?

A
  • Diffuse axonal injury (immediate and prolonged coma with no apparent mass lesion or metabolic abnormality) is the clinical term for traumatic axonal injury pathological term (damaged axons due to trauma)
  • TAI can be focal or diffuse (grade 1-3 based on severity)
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16
Q

What is diffuse axonal injury the clinical term for?

A

Traumatic axonal injury (pathological term)

17
Q

What does TAI stand for?

A

Traumatic axonal injury

18
Q

What are the different kinds of TAI?

A
  • TAI can be focal or diffuse (grade 1-3 based on severity)
19
Q

What does internal damage often depend on?

A

Type of injuries

20
Q

What internal injuries are often seen in blunt force for the following areas:

  • ribs
  • lungs
  • heart
  • aorta
  • abdomen
A
21
Q

What internal injuries are often seen in sharp force for the following areas:

  • ribs
  • lungs
  • heart
  • aorta
  • abdomen
A
22
Q

Other than blunt force and sharp force, what are examples of other types of injuries?

A
  • Burns
    • Full thickness or partial thickness
  • Firearms injuries
  • Explosions
  • Resuscitation
    • Includes bruising to neck, finger marks, bruising/laceration of lips and gums, damage to teeth, sternal and rib fractures, pleural cavity haemorrhage, laceration of lung, heart rupture, venopuncture and cannulation
  • Post mortem injuries
    • Clues are lack of vital reaction and parchmentation
    • Could be animal or insect predation
23
Q

What is typically seen due to resuscitation injuries?

A
  • Includes bruising to neck, finger marks, bruising/laceration of lips and gums, damage to teeth, sternal and rib fractures, pleural cavity haemorrhage, laceration of lung, heart rupture, venopuncture and cannulation
24
Q

What are clues for post-mortem injuries?

A
  • Clues are lack of vital reaction and parchmentation
  • Could be animal or insect predation