Clostridial Meningitis as a Result of Craniocerebral Arrow Injury

A total of eight cases of homicide by crossbow are reported, including six intentional, assault-like killings and one hired killer. The bolts showed a high penetration capacity despite the rather low kinetic energy (<100 J): a field-tip traversed one upper arm and the thorax (36 cm) and two broadheads caused perforating injuries of the thorax (25-26 cm). This was due to the high sectional density and the split-like penetration mechanism. Wound morphology was especially important if the perpetrator had extracted the bolt, which occurred in half of the cases. The shape of the entrance wound depended on the type of arrowhead: broadheads produced star-shaped to triangular wounds, field-tips caused circular, oval or slit-like injuries. Foreign material from the arrowhead was found inside two injuries. In assaults, the crossbow was used to hunt the victim down from a short distance which does not require practice but still has the advantage of a distance weapon. However, immediate incapacitation occurred rarely so that additional violence was frequently applied. The noiseless character of the weapon explains why many victims were taken by surprise and why the corpses initially remained unnoticed. Crossbows can therefore be considered ideal weapons for man hunting and some were bought for the very purpose of the killing.

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“…10,11,20,28], also involving children [e.g. 23,24], hunting accidents [e.g. 14,19], and suicides [e.g.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Crossbow homicides

et al. 2004

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“…Accidental, suicidal, or homicidal arrow injuries to the brain other than in tribal conflicts are exceedingly rare and have been reported rarely (Table 1) [1,[5][6][7][8][9][10][11]. To the best of our knowledge, only Opeskin & Burke [9] have reported on a case of a self-inflicted brain injury with crossbow arrows.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…A second arrow entered the palate, went through the brain and was ultimately lethal. Other cases of arrow-induced head injuries describe complications such as traumatic aneurysms [5,6,8,12], AV fistulas [5,6,8], meningitis [1,5], sepsis [5], hypopituitarism [5], seizures [12,13], blindness due to direct eye trauma [7,8,10], and lethal outcome [5,9].…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Therapeutic Principles Primary management of penetrating head injuries in which part of the weapon lies outside the skull includes stabilization of the extracranial segment of the weapon and careful transport to a trauma center [1]. Since penetrating head injuries are usually associated with vascular, infectious or neurologic complications [5,12], surgical management includes thorough debridement, removal of all bone and foreign body fragments, hematoma evacuation, hemostasis, control of intracranial pressure, prevention of early and late infections as well as restoration of the anatomic integrity of the injured structures so as to prevent cerebrospinal fluid leaks.…”

Section: Imagingmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…In about 10% of all head injuries a foreign body penetrates the skull and injures the brain [1]. The extent of trauma depends primarily on the force of impact, missile velocity, and projectile mass.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Self-Influcted Intracranial Injury Caused by a Crossbow Arrow

Suess¹,

Kombos²,

Suess³

et al. 2002

European Journal of Trauma

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The availability of sophisticated hunting and sports weapons such as modern crossbows increases the incidence of uncommon types of accidental, suicidal, and homicidal head injuries. This report describes the case of a 47-year-old man with a nonfatal head injury due to a crossbow broadhead hunting arrow penetrating the left frontal lobe. The injury was accidentally self-inflicted by the intoxicated patient. A review of the literature has shown that self-inflicted head injuries caused by arrows are a very rare or, at least, a seldom reported entity. The mechanisms and pathophysiology of penetrating head injuries caused by different kinds of projectiles are discussed in order to clarify the management of these cases.

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Traumatic Vascular Injury to the Cervical Spine

DiLuna¹,

Amar²

2007

Surgical Management of Spinal Cord Injury

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Clostridial Meningitis as a Result of Craniocerebral Arrow Injury

Cited by 23 publications

References 18 publications

Crossbow homicides

Crossbow homicides

Self-Influcted Intracranial Injury Caused by a Crossbow Arrow

Traumatic Vascular Injury to the Cervical Spine

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