Forensic Medical Examination of Severity at Closed Injuries of the Chest According to the Materials of the Specialized Clinic

A closed chest injury is a frequent type of damage to the organs of the external respiratory system. Victims with such an injury may become the object of a forensic medical examination. The aim of the work was to determine the severity of closed blunt trauma of the chest based on the materials of a specialized clinic in order to determine additional diagnostic criteria for the severity of such an injury.

123 medical cards of inpatients department, patients with chest injuries, who were treated at the Kharkiv Institute of General and Emergency Surgery named after V.T. Zaitsev. Forensic evaluation of closed injuries of the chest organs was carried out according to the degree of severity of physical injuries based on the materials of clinical observations.

Severe injuries were found in 22 (17.9%) cases of injuries with the occurrence of a life-threatening phenomenon, namely, acute respiratory failure. Injuries of medium severity were found in 71 (57.7%) cases of chest injuries, mainly with rib fractures, due to the absence of danger to life. Mild injuries were found in 30 (24.4%) cases of chest injuries without rib fractures with intrapleural injuries and complications or mild chest injuries without any complications.

It was determined that additional diagnostic criteria for closed injuries of the chest, which must be taken place when determining the severity of physical injuries, should be considered: dynamics and duration of restoration of post-traumatic morpho-functional changes of injured organs, loss of part or all of the respiratory organ (lungs), occurrence of life-threatening phenomenon.