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Category: Volume 05 Issue 09 September 2017
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Title: An Autopsy Study of Pattern of Fatal Cranio-Cerebral Injuries Due to Blunt Force Trauma at Medicolegal Centre of A Tertiary Healthcare Centre

Authors: Sachin Chourasia, Abhijit Rudra

 DOI:  https://dx.doi.org/10.18535/jmscr/v5i9.26

Abstract

Background: Traumatic brain injury (TBI) has been called the “Silent Epidemic”. It is defined as sudden injury due to an external force that affects the functioning of brain. It may be either caused by sudden blow or impact (closed head injury) or by an object penetrating the skull (Penetrating injury). The common causes of traumatic brain injury include road traffic accidents, fall from height and assault. The mortality from traumatic brain injury is reported to be between 1-2% of death from all the causes. Not only it is one of the major causes of death in young adults but also may cause permanent disability in survivors. The importance of TBI as a public health problem cannot be overstated and the forensic pathologist plays a major role in identifying the specific brain injuries resulting from each circumstance.

Aims and objectives: To study the cause, survival time and type of injuries in victims of traumatic head injury brought to the mortuary.

Results: This study included all the cases of death secondary to head injuries due to blunt force trauma brought to mortuary. Out of 50 cases 40 (80%) were males and 10 (20%) were females with a M:F ratio of 1:0.25. The most common age group involved was 21-40 years (32%) followed by 61-80 years (28%) and 41-60 years (18%). The most common cause of TBI was found to be road traffic accidents (68%) followed by fall from height (16%). Following TBI majority of the patients succumbed to death between 16-24 hours (34%) while spot death was seen in 12% of the cases.39 (78%) patients were found to be having skull fracture majority of which involved vault alone (48.72%) while in 18 (46.15%) patients the fracture involved both vault and the base of skull. Contusion was present in 28 (56%) patients. Most common type of intracranial hemorrhage was found to subarachnoid hemorrhage which was found in 41 (82%) patients followed by subdural and intra-cerebral hemorrhages which were seen in 38 (76%) and 22 (44%) patients respectively.

Conclusion: The most common cause of traumatic brain injury in our study was found to be road traffic accidents. Thus it can be inferred that morbidity and mortality from traumatic brain injuries can be reduced by taking steps to prevent road traffic accidents.

Keywords: Traumatic Brain Injury, Road traffic accidents, Autopsy, Intracranial hemorrhage.

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Corresponding Author

Sachin Chourasia

Assistant Professor, Department of Forensic Medicine and Toxicology,

Armed Forces Medical College Pune (Maharashtra) India