Pattern of head injury in fatal road traffic accidents brought for autopsy at S.S.G. Hospital, Vadodara

Among all the regional injuries, the injuries to head and neck are the most common and important in Forensic practice. Deaths from head injury comprise 1–2% of all deaths from all causes and one third to one half of all deaths due to trauma are due to head injury.

The present study was conducted in Department of Forensic Medicine, Govt. Medical College, Vadodara during January 2015- December 2015. Total 300 cases of autopsy were studied irrespective to the age; gender, religion, cast etc., who have died ‘due to head injuries by any means. All the data related to time, manner and manifestation of head injury were recorded with detailed autopsy examination and subsequently analyzed statistically.

We reached at a conclusion that majority of the victims were male of 21–40 years age involving in road traffic accidents, when they were going on two wheelers without wearing helmets. Scalp injuries were more common than facial injuries. Blunt cranio-cerebral l trauma was the predominant cause of death identified in present study.