Wounds and Injuries

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Wounds and Injuries

• Dr. Abdulmonem Al-Hayani
• MBChB, DipFMS(Lon), PhD(Aber)

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OutcomeAimsGoals

• Why this lecture?
• What is wounds?
• Classifications of wounds?
• Blunt force injuries?
• Sharp force injuries?

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Why this lecture?
As GP, You Will See Hundreds of Wounds
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Definition of Wounds

• Damage to any parts of the body due to
  application of mechanical force

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Classifications of Wounds
Blunt Force
Sharp Force
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Blunt Force Injuries

• Blunt?
• Force depends on
• Mass of weapon
• Velocity of impact

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Blunt Force Injuries

• Severity of impact depends on
• Force applied
• Velocity
• Surface area
• Site of body
• Diseases

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Blunt Force Injuries

• Types?
• Abrasion
• Bruises
• Lacerations
• Fractures

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Abrasions

• What? scraping and removal of superficial layers
  of skin
• Causes?
• Blunt objects
• Ligature
• Scraping against surfaces

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Commonest cause
Fingernail Scratches
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Abrasions

• Medicolegal significance
• Indicate severity
• Lies at point of impact
• Skin tag may indicate direction of scraping
• Antemortem or Postmortem

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Bruises

• What? Escape of blood into tissue of living
  person due to rupture of blood vessels
• Causes?
• Direct blow
• Impact with hard surfaces
• Punching, kicking
• Spread of blood from internal injuries

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Bruises

• Medicolegal significance
• Evidence of application of blunt force
• Mainly indicate antemortem injuries
• Can indicate types of weapons e.g. shoes, tyre
  etc

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Please differentiate from
Hypostasis
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Lacerations

• What? Tearing or splitting of tissues due to
  crushing force
• Causes?
• Impact with surface
• Crushing injuries
• Deceleration injuries

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Sharp Force Injuries

• Always fatal
• Always by knifes
• Characterization of knifes
• length, width and thickness of blade
• Type of blade
• Degree of taper
• Sharpness

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Sharp Force Injuries

• Characterization of stab wounds depends
• Type of weapon
• Sharpness
• Movement
• Depth of trust
• Direction of impact

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Sharp Force Injuries

• Examination of wounds
• Number of wounds
• Sites
• Defensive injuries
• Fatal wounds

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Do not forget to check
Clothes
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Sharp Force Injuries

• Accidental? Suicide? Or Homicide?
• Accidental uncommon, odd sites
• Suicidal left site of chest, must be accessible,
  often shallow, no defense wounds, tentative
  wounds
• Homicide any site, often haphazard, defensive
  wounds present

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Summary
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Key Lesson

• Do Not Forget Medicolegal Aspects of Wounds

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Questions Comments