The medico-legal evaluation of injuries from falls in pediatric age groups

Kafadar, Safiye; Kafadar, Hüseyin

doi:10.1016/j.jflm.2015.01.005

Cited by 6 publications

(4 citation statements)

References 23 publications

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“…For children younger than five years of age, the odds of sustaining a head injury were higher, which is in line with our findings and pediatric trauma in general. Kafadar et al analyzed pediatric falls in 1326 patients, of whom 13.2% fell from a height greater than 5 m [ 31 ]. The proportion of patients younger than four years was highest, causing authors to conclude that falls from great heights in children are most likely to occur from dangerous and unmonitored play situations.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Falls from Great Heights: Risk to Sustain Severe Thoracic and Pelvic Injuries Increases with Height of the Fall

Nau

Leiblein

Verboket

et al. 2021

JCM

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Falls from a height are a common cause of polytrauma care in Level I Trauma Centers worldwide. The expected injury consequences depend on the height of the fall and the associated acceleration, as well as the condition of the ground. In addition, we further hypothesize a correlation between the cause of the fall, the age of the patient, and the patient’s outcome. A total of 178 trauma patients without age restriction who were treated in our hospital after a fall >3 m within a 5-year period were retrospectively analyzed. The primary objective was a clinically and radiologically quantifiable increase in the severity of injuries after falls from different relevant heights (>3 m, >6 m, and >9 m). The cause of the fall, either accidental or suicidal; age and duration of intensive care unit stay, including duration of ventilation; and total hospital stay were analyzed. Additionally, the frequency of urgent operations, such as, external fixation of fractures or hemi-craniectomies, laboratory parameters; and clinical outcomes were also among the secondary objectives. Sustaining a thoracic trauma or pelvis fractures increases significantly with height, and vital parameters are significantly compromised. We also found significant differences in urgent pre- and in-hospital emergency interventions, as well as organ complications and outcome parameters depending on the fall’s height.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Falls from Great Heights: Risk to Sustain Severe Thoracic and Pelvic Injuries Increases with Height of the Fall

Nau

Leiblein

Verboket

et al. 2021

JCM

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“…Fall from height according to the manner of death can be accidents, homicides or suicides [1][2][3][4][5][6][7]. Compared with the other methods of suicides, suicidal falls from height are relatively rare and usually practiced by elderly [1,6,9].…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Thorough examination of the place of the incident and toxicological analysis, as well as insight into the social and medical history of the victim is necessary [1][2][3][4][5][6][7].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Suicidal Injuries From Height Falls

Pavlovski¹,

Stankov²,

Jakjovski³

et al. 2022

JMS

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According to the manner of death, falls from height can be accidental, homicidal and predominantly suicidal.The type of injuries in suicidal falls from height depend to a large extent on the height of the fall, the part of the body that landed and suffered the first impact, the age and the body weight of the victim, clothes worn and body composition.Although with prospect, the research is an average study of the Institute for Forensic Medicine in Skopje, conducted on 80 victims of fatal falls from different heights, through forensic-medical autopsy.The data for all examined cases have been taken from the forensic-medical autopsy reports.The study analyses the cases which appear to be suicides, according to the manner of death. The injuries inflicted from the falls are analysed according to the height in three groups: small height up to 7 meters, middle height from 7 to 10 meters and big heights above 20 meters.Study results have shown that 25% of the analysed cases are suicides. The analysis of the number and severity of the injuries in relation to the height of the fall prove that the fractures of the hipbone and legs were most frequent injuries found in the victims who have fallen from 7 to 20 meters.In the victims of height falls up to 7 meters, most frequent injuries were the fractures of the ribs and the spine. In falls from height above 20 meters, all organs were equally damaged.In suicides from falls from height, most frequent injuries of the skeleton were fractures of the ribs and spine, while the liver was the most affected organ among the internal organs.However, the type of injuries determined with the autopsy is not a sufficient indicator for successful assessment of the manner of death in fatal falls from height.

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“…While the WHO ICD‐10 distinguishes only two categories of falls – unspecified fall on same level and unspecified fall from one level to another –, in this study falls were classified into the new categories v, vi, and vii described above. This adaptation, which is specific to this study, added more detail and incorporated concerns from the forensic literature about the height of the fall . A fall was classified as occurring from a standing height or from a low height if it occurred from a height not substantially higher than the standing individual, regardless of other factors affecting the fall.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Comparing Known and Reconstructed Circumstances of Death Involving a Blunt Force Trauma Mechanism through a Retrospective Analysis of 21 Skeletonized Individuals

Marinho

Cardoso

2016

Journal of Forensic Sciences

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Little is known about to what extent the events surrounding death can be reliably reconstructed from blunt force trauma analysis alone. In this study, we reconstruct circumstances of death from a blind blunt force trauma analysis using a sample of 21 individuals of known death circumstances, obtained from two identified skeletal collections in Portugal. Fresh versus dry bone trauma and probable mechanism of fracture production were identified. The overall pattern of injuries was then used to reconstruct the most likely circumstances of death. Results show an agreement between the proposed and the reported circumstances for 13 individuals (68.4%), disagreement for 3 (15.8%), and similarity in 3 cases (15.8%). Although the significant amount of agreement highlights the potential of trauma analysis, the cases with disagreement draw attention to the pitfalls and shortcomings of attempting to reconstruct the death circumstances from skeletal trauma analysis alone.

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The medico-legal evaluation of injuries from falls in pediatric age groups

Cited by 6 publications

References 23 publications

Falls from Great Heights: Risk to Sustain Severe Thoracic and Pelvic Injuries Increases with Height of the Fall

Falls from Great Heights: Risk to Sustain Severe Thoracic and Pelvic Injuries Increases with Height of the Fall

Suicidal Injuries From Height Falls

Comparing Known and Reconstructed Circumstances of Death Involving a Blunt Force Trauma Mechanism through a Retrospective Analysis of 21 Skeletonized Individuals

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