Commotio cordis après impact précordial de Flashball®

About a pediatric facial trauma

Less-lethal weapon are more and more used in law enforcement to neutralize combative individuals and to disperse riot crowds. Even if this type of weapon has been created to be less damaging than classical firearms, it has been incriminated many times in cases of facial injuries with functional consequences, even death. In many countries, these guns can be possessed by average citizens. They could be extremely harmful when handled by inexperienced users and cannot be considered solely as defense weapons. Interestingly, little literature is available concerning facial injuries caused by the less-lethal weapons. We report the case of a ballistic wound on a 3-year-old child.

Pattern of rubber bullet injuries in the lower limbs: A report from Kashmir

PURPOSE

Rubber bullets are considered a non-lethal method of crowd control and are being used over the world. However the literature regarding the pattern and management of these injuries is scarce for the forensic pathologist as well as for the traumatologist. The objective of this report was to add our experience to the existing literature.

METHODS

From June 2008 to August 2010 the Government Hospital for Bone and Joint Surgery Barzulla and the Department of Orthopaedics, SKIMS Medical College/Hospital Bemina Srinagar received 28 patients for management of their orthopaedic injuries caused by rubber bullets. We documented all injuries and also recorded the management issues and complications that we encountered.

RESULTS

All patients weremales with an age range of 11e32 years and were civilians who had been hit by rubber bullets fired by the police and the paramilitary forces. Among them, 19 patients had injuries of the lower limbs and 9 patients had injuries of the upper limbs. All patients were received within 6 h of being shot.

CONCLUSION

Our findings suggest that these weapons are capable of causing significant injuries including fractures and it is important for the surgeon to be well versed with the management of such injuries especially in areas of unrest. The report is also supportive of the opinion that these weapons are lethal and should hence be reclassified.