Injury amongst Medicolegal Cases in Department of Forensic Medicine of a Tertiary Care Centre: A Descriptive Cross-sectional Study

Abstract

Introduction: Victim of injuries presenting to a hospital is a medico-legal issue. So, with medical management, proper documentation of injuries should be done as a legal duty by all physicians attending such cases. The study aims to find the prevalence of injury amongst medicolegal cases inthe Department of Forensic Medicine in a tertiary care centre. Methods: A descriptive cross-sectional study was done amongst 328 medicolegal cases presenting at a tertiary center, from January 2019 to February 2021. Ethical approval was obtained from the Institutional Review Committee (Reference number: 2603202101). Convenience sampling was used to select study samples. After detailed history regarding the incidence, injuries were examined and documented in a performa. The data were entered in Statistical Package for Social Sciences version 18. Point estimate at 95% Confidence Interval was calculated along with frequency and percentagefor binary data. Results: Among 328 cases presenting to hospital for medicolegal issues, 237 (72.25%) (67.40-77.09 at 95% Confidence Interval) had injuries, out of which 170 (71.73%) cases were due to physical assault, 64 (27%) cases due to accident; 2 (1.26%) were undetermined. Majority of victims of injury were adult males, with mean age of 32.41±13.96 years. In most accidental injuries internal organs were also injuries and life-threatening. Conclusions: The prevalence of injuries amongst medicolegal cases was found to be higher in our study in comparison to other studies done in similar settings. Most of the injuries were due to physical assault; however, the majority of road traffic injuries were life-threatening. These road traffic injuries could have been prevented by following a safe system approach to road safety.

Pattern of Injuries in Physically Assaulted Victims in Mid Southern Region of Nepal

“…The present study shows that majority of individual involved in violence are male than female which is also supported various studies (4,7). One of the reasons is men usually being the jobholder and they have to involve in outdoor activities.…”

“…The study showed that 11.4% of injuries were grievous, 2.9% lives threatening and 85.7% were non-grievous. The result is similar to other studies done in Nepal (7,18). Among all the assaulted patients most of them get discharged after conservative management.…”

“…Physical assaults are more common in alcohol intoxicated person than nonalcoholic. Use of alcohol inhibits proper judgment and play a vital role in increasing hostility by raising unnecessary arguments (7,10).…”

Profile of Medico-Legal Cases in Accident & Emergency Department of SSKH, LHMC, New Delhi During Pre-Covid-19 and Covid-19 Periods

“…Out of 5140 MLCs, the alleged history of a causative factor was blunt force trauma in more than half (N = 2624; 51.05%) cases, followed by RTA (N = 922; 17.93%) and poisoning (N = 917; 17.84%), respectively (Table VIII). Our findings were similar to the studies reported by references [10], [25]- [27], and [29].…”

“…The average age of the victims was 34.53 years and the median age was 32 years. Our findings were similar to the studies reported by references [1], [3]- [9], [11], [13], [15], [16], [18]- [25], and [27]- [38].…”