Establishment of an animal model of deep tissue defect caused by high-explosive ammunition fragment in mini-pigs

Abstract

Objective To estimate the characteristics of ballistics and deep soft tissue injury of the animal model of deep tissue defect caused by high explosive ammunition firearm wound in miniature pigs and thus provide a clear theoretical basis for the establishment of the animal model. Method Sixteen Bama mini-pigs were divided into four groups according to the load of ammunition and fragment weight. After injury, the initial velocity of fragment and wound depth were measured as well as the entry area volume of wound track. The muscle samples were obtained from wound track for pathological observation. Result Compared with other groups, the result showed the average entrance area (0.66±0.05) cm2, wound length (4.5±0.3) cm and unit length of wound tract volume (2.11±0.24) cm3 were caused by large fragment(0.234 g), which was launched by 0.5 g ammunition , there were no significant differences (P>0.05), but the pathological examination showed deep muscle tissue injury, such as obvious muscle fiber degeneration and necrosis, and there was no vascular injury and fracture. Conclusions The degree of deep tissue damage caused by high-explosive munitions gunshot wounds was related to ammunition content and fragment weight. By this method, animal model of deep tissue injury had satisfactory repeatability and no fracture and vascular injury, which is suitable for the study of experimental animals with high-explosive ammunition. Key words: Firearms; Models, animal; Soft tissue injuries