An epidemiological study of fracture related deaths in a tertiary care hospital in West Bengal

Fractures due to Road Traffic Accidents or fall, are an extremely common occurrence and often lead to death. Aim of this study was to find out the epidemiology of fracture related deaths in a medical college mortuary in eastern India. For this, an autopsy-based cross-sectional study was conducted from 1st April, 2013 to 31st March, 2014 in the department of Forensic and State Medicine, Nil Ratan Sircar Medical College, Kolkata. During this period a total of 2813 autopsies were carried out. Of these, 613 cases were associated with fractures, of which 100 cases of fracture were selected randomly and analyzed. RTA and fall were the commonest cause of fracture related deaths. Fractures among RTA victims were common in male (78.9%), in middle age persons (38.6%) and during rainy season. Greater number of victims died within first 24 hours of the event, both in case of RTA (43.8%) and fall (57.6%). Skull (48%) and spine (11%) fractures were present in most of the cases. This study can help concerned authorities to plan and implement safety measures to avoid preventable death