Forensic Evaluation of the patterns of fatal injuries among pedestrians in road traffic accidents in Hyderabad, Pakistan.

Abstract

Introduction: Road traffic accidents (RTAs) preventable yet responsible for a large number fatalities among children and adults. It is estimated that RTA causes approximately 1.35 million deaths (27.5 deaths per 100,000 population) through out the world.Objective: To evaluate the patterns of fatal injuries among pedestrians due to road traffic accidents brought in emergency unit of Liaquat University, hospital, Hyderabad.Methodology: This cross-sectional study conducted between Jan 2019 to Dec 2019 and all victims of road traffic accidents brought in the emergency due to fatal injuries belongs to either sex or age-group were included. Data collected includes demographic details; type, site, impact, intensity of inju-ries and different types of vehicles involved in the accidents were recorded from history/ autopsy findings of medico-legal officer. Collected data was entered and analyzed in SPSS ver. 23.Results: Motorcars were more involved (31.0%) in road traffic accidents followed by trucks/loaders (29.0%). Males (87.5%) outnumber female. Head and neck region (26.0%) affected most, while abdomen/pelvis were the least(16.0%) affected. Contusions occurred in predominantly (51.0%) while most (60.5%) pedestrians were found dead when received in the emergen-cy unit. Most common cause of death was head injury induced complica-tions.Conclusion: Injuries to head, neck and facial regions are more common while contusions are the predominant type of injuries occur in the pedestri-ans. Skull bone is most commonly fractured bone among the victimsKeywords: Pattern of injuries, Pedestrians, Road traffic accidents .