REVIEW ARTICLE
Trauma forensics in blunt and sharp force injuries
Uwom Okereke Eze1, Kehinde Abraham Ojifinni2
1 Department of Pathology, University College Hospital (UCH), Ibadan, Oyo State, Nigeria
2 Department of Emergency Medicine, University College Hospital (UCH), Ibadan, Oyo State, Nigeria
Correspondence Address:
Dr. Uwom Okereke Eze
Department of Pathology, University College Hospital (UCH), Ibadan, Oyo State
Nigeria
Source of Support: None
Conflict of Interest: None
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Trauma forensics is the concept of examining trauma from a medicolegal standpoint in a given jurisdiction. Blunt and sharp force traumas are classified based on the different mechanisms of causation, which have a medicolegal significance. Adopting a standard approach to the medical evaluation of such injuries in patients would serve both the purposes of rendering appropriate treatment and the documentation and preservation of medical evidence. However, most trauma cases are seen by medical practitioners with very limited forensic knowledge and skills, and they are still expected to meet the needs of the court or the judicial mechanism in subsequent legal proceedings. Therefore, some measures, including 10 practical considerations, which are applicable in attending to blunt and sharp force traumas, would limit the risk a clinician faces in the crossfire of medicine and law.
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