Paediatric autopsy study at G B pant hospital, aniims, port blair, andaman & nicobar islands

Introduction: There are 572 Islands in the Andaman & Nicobar group with an area measuring 8249 Sq. KM., among them only 32 islands are inhabited, Port Blair, being its capital city. Medico legal deaths claim a substantial number of lives in Andaman & Nicobar Islands including pediatric age group. Pediatrics is the branch of medical science dealing with children and their diseases. Accidents & Violence are major killers of children and adolescents under the age of 18 years throughout the world and are responsible for about 950000 deaths each year.

Material and Methods: Out of 572 autopsies performed during the study period from January 2015 to December 2017 for three years, 98 victims belongs to the pediatric age group at the Department of Forensic Medicine & Toxicology, G B Pant hospital, ANIIMS, Port Blair, Andaman & Nicobar Islands. The purposes of this study were to report the autopsy findings of unnatural child deaths and to identify the prevalence of specific factors such as age, sex, postmortem findings, cause of death and manner of death. Results: The adolescent age group (12–18 years) were most commonly affected, with a significant male preponderance. Many of the cases were accidental in nature with road traffic accident & drowning being the leading causes of death. There was much coexistence of the parameters typical of both industrialization and population explosion in developing countries, indicating the epidemiological transition.

Conclusions: It is important to find out the origin and causes of childhood deaths to guide health policies in preventing the unnatural deaths. Besides, different legal approaches & laws are also needed to prevent these causes.