Categories

Volume 9 Issue 3 (March, 2021)

Original Articles

Evaluation of profile of victims of road traffic accidents undergoing autopsy
Arun Sharma, Jitendra Kumar Gupta

Background: Motorization has enhanced the lives of many individuals and societies, but the benefits have come with a price. Head injury has been defined as "a morbid state, resulting from gross or subtle structural changes in the scalp, skull, and/or the contents of skull, produced by mechanical forces". Hence, this study was planned in the department of forensic medicine to analyse and evaluate in detail the profile of victims of road traffic accidents undergoing autopsy. Materials & methods: Assessment of consecutive 100 victims was done which died in road traffic accidents and underwent post-mortem examination. Data were collected for duration of one year. In all these cases detailed personal information was recorded from relatives/accompanies of victim, inquest papers, and hospital records. The history regarding the circumstances of the accidents and other relevant data about injuries to the victims, the site of impact was obtained from inquest papers. Dead bodies were examined in detail during post-mortem for the presence of external injuries, internal injuries including bone and joints. Results: 38 percent of the patients belonged to the age group of 30 to 40 years. Mean age of the patients was 38.4 years. Manner of accident was motor cycle- car seen in 60 %, motor cycle- bus in 28% and car- truck in 12%. There was head involvement in 48%, in 22% Head+ Chest, in 16% Head+ limbs, in 8% abdomen and in 6% Head+ Chest+ abdomen was involved. The most common cause was head injury seen in 59% followed by Injury to vital organ in 23% and shock & haemorrhage in 18%. Conclusion: Road traffic accidents are an unfortunate economic burden on developing countries like India. Head injury due to RTA is a recognized public health problem causing death and disability. Key words: Autopsy, Road traffic accident.

 
Abstract View | Download PDF | Current Issue