Forensic-medical determination of the severity of closed injuries of the hyoid-laryngeal complex according to the data of a specialized clinic

Abstract

Victims with closed blunt trauma of the hyoid-laryngeal complex often become the object of forensic examination. The purpose of the work was the forensic determination of the severity of injuries of the hyoid-laryngeal complex based on the materials of a specialized otolaryngological clinic in order to establish ways to improve the effectiveness of forensic diagnostics. 62 medical inpatient and outpatient cards of patients with injuries of the hyoid-laryngeal complex, who were treated in the Kharkiv clinical otolaryngological hospital No. 30 during 2011-2021, were processed. The mechanism of occurrence of injuries of the hyoid-laryngeal complex was as follows: in 51 (82.3% of cases there were blows to the neck with blunt hard objects (blows with fists and other objects), in 11 (17.7%) cases – squeezing of the neck with hands or blunt hard objects. The severity of injuries of the hyoid-laryngeal complex was determined from a forensic-medical point of view based on the observations of patients in a specialized hospital. Injuries of the hyoid-laryngeal complex in 3 (4.8%) patients with the occurrence of life-threatening phenomena, namely acute respiratory failure, were assessed as serious ones. Injuries in 8 (12.9%) patients were assessed as injuries of medium severity, mainly in cases of laryngeal cartilage fractures due to the lack of danger to life. Injuries in 38 (61.3%) patients were assessed as slight physical injuries that caused a short-term health disorder, mainly in cases of damage to the soft tissues of the larynx (hematoma, hemorrhage, swelling). Injuries in 13 (20.9%) patients in cases of acute post-traumatic laryngitis without pronounced morphological changes were assessed as slight ones. It was determined that additional diagnostic criteria for determining the severity of injuries of the hyoid-laryngeal complex, which have to be considered are: the dynamics and terms of restoration of post-traumatic morphological-clinical, and functional changes, the occurrence of life-threatening phenomena. The conducted scientific work made it possible to determine the ways of further improvement of diagnostics in the forensic-medical determination of the severity of the investigated injuries.