Postmortem Examination of Traffic Injury-related Fatality: Medico-legal and Clinical Aspects - การชันสูตรพลิกศพที่ตายจากบาดเจ็บทางจราจร: ประเด็นด้านกฎหมายและการรักษา

Abstract

          Aims of this descriptive research were to study general characteristics of traffic injury-related fatality and emergency care involving both medico-legal and clinical aspects. The author retrospectively reviewed all data on traffic injury-related death, which examined by forensic doctor, between January 1, 2007 and December 31, 2009. Main variables consisted of gender, age, place of death, cause and manner of death. The probability of survival (Ps) score using TRISS methodology was calculated only in patients who died at the emergency room of Lamphun Hospital. All data were analyzed and presented in frequency or percentage. In all, 154 bodies were included in this study. Ninety six cases died on the spot. Eighteen cases died at the emergency room of Lamphun Hospital. The most frequent cause of death was head injury (74 cases). Probability of survival-Ps of cases, who died at the emergency room, ranged from 0 to 82.6 percent. Three cases had Ps more than 50 percent. All data from postmortem examination were valuable for medico-legal aspects especially to explore cause and manner of death, as differences between postmortem inquest and autopsy results in some cases emerged. The study also showed that death at the traffic accident scene is still a major public health problem. Emergency medical service and accident prevention program should be developed to prevent pre-hospital death. All fatal cases at any emergency room dictate a need to calculate Ps and a thorough review to improve quality of trauma care. In conclusion, complete postmortem investigation always yield valuable information on both medico-legal and clinical aspects.