PROFILING OF MEDICOLEGAL CASES OF MECHANICAL INJURIES TO HEAD AT TERTIARY CARE CENTER - A PROSPECTIVE STUDY

Abstract

Aims and Objectives: The study aims to profile the medicolegal cases of head injury in relation to its sociodemographic distribution, the type and nature of the injury, and the type of skull fractures reported. Methods: The present prospective study of 318 medicolegal assault cases for mechanical injuries exclusively to the head, including the face, which reported a total of 404 wounds on the head and face, who reported to the emergency, Guru Nanak Dev Hospital attached to Government Medical College, Amritsar was conducted November 1, 2018, to April 2020. The study was conducted after seeking permission from the Institutional Ethics Committee, Government Medical College, Amritsar. Results: Among the total of 318 cases, the majority of them, 289 (90.9%) were male and 29 (9.1%) were female. Two hundred and forty-four (76.7%) of the reported cases belonged to a rural background, whereas 74 (23.3%) were from an urban background. The most common was the cortical cut reported in 29 (37.2%) cases, followed by depressed fractures in 22 (28.2%) cases. The comminuted fractures were present in 18 (23.1%) cases, whereas there was a fissure fracture in 09 (11.5%) cases. Conclusion: It is observed that assault-related cases of medicolegal injuries on the head are much more common in the younger generation and rural population. Thus prevention of assault-related activities, the primary focus should be encouraging the young generation about rationalism and tolerance.