MEDICOLEGAL STUDY OF FIREARM DEATHS PRESENTED TO ZEINHOM MORGUE

Abstract

Introduction: The terminal ballistics refers to the behavior of a missile after it hits the target. When terminal ballistics deals with human tissues as the target it is called wound ballistics. The morphology of inlet and exit lesions found with a rifled firearm weapon depends mainly on the direction of the projectile travel. The inlet is typically smaller, steady, and inverted, while the exit is a bigger, uneven, and abundantly bleeding injury. Aim: The current study aims to analyze the medicolegal aspect of firearm wounds among deaths referred to Zeinhom Morgue. Methodology: This study was a prospective cross-section study, including all firearm deaths, presented to the Zeinhom morgue for 6 months duration. Results: 157 deceased subjects (149 males, 8 females) were included in the study, their ages ranged between the 2nd and 7th Decades. 122 subjects were found to have only single firearm wound entry, and 47.1 % of them had exit wounds. The anteroposterior direction of firing has the highest percentage. The highest percentage was to the far firing. Conclusion and recommendations: There is a male predominance in firearm injury cases, especially in the middle age period. The majority of the studied cases had no medical interference and died at the scene. Thus we recommend decreasing the number of firearms used and sold in Egypt.