Forensic autopsy study of abdominal and pelvic trauma due to road traffic injuries

Vehicular injuries are one of the most common contributory factors to the abdominopelvic trauma. Injuries to the abdomen and pelvis are often associated with injuries to other parts like the head, chest, spine, and extremities. Hence intra-abdominal or intra-pelvic involvement may be overlooked. Among the common causes of vehicular accidents, apart from the normal chaos on the roads, special mention should be drawn towards poorly maintained and congested roads, poor condition of vehicles, poor adherence of traffic rules, inexpert drivers not maintaining lane discipline, use of mobile phones while driving in a zigzag pattern, etc.

To study the pattern, prevalence of abdominal and pelvic injuries in relation to Age, Sex, type of vehicle, and organ injured.

Cases for the present study were 500 in number collected from the medico-legal autopsies, showing abdominal and/or pelvic injuries, carried out at the mortuary of Government Medical College, Amritsar

The maximum no. of cases 245(49%) were found in the age group of 21–40 years. The majority of cases were from rural 340(68%) background. The maximum no. of vehicles involved in accidents were two-wheelers, and the majority of the victims were motorcyclists(38%). Peritoneal hemorrhage was observed in the majority of cases i.e., 180 cases (36%). Retro peritoneal haemorrhage was, however, seen only in 35 cases (7%). The most injured organ was the liver having contusions in 20 cases (4%) and laceration in 125 cases (25%), followed by the spleen, which had contusions in 10 cases (2%) and laceration in 70 cases (14%).

All abdominal and pelvic injuries constitute a potential factor in increasing the amount of morbidity and mortality, and therefore, proper attention towards their accurate diagnosis and satisfactory management is mandatory.