Retrospective Assessment of Forensic Facts Under 18 Years of Age in İzmir

Abstract

Aim: The aim of this study was to examine the cases under the age of 18 who applied to the forensic medicine outpatient clinic of our hospital in İzmir.
 Material and Methods: Among the 6,492 reports prepared for the patients who applied to İzmir Katip Çelebi University, Atatürk Training and Research Hospital Forensic Medicine Polyclinic between January 2019 and January 2022, 471 final reports prepared for forensic cases under the age of 18; age, gender, type of incident, area of injury, according to TCK 86 law clause; It was examined retrospectively with parameters such as whether it is life-threatening or not, and whether it can be eliminated with a simple medical intervention or not.
 Results: In our study, 471 reports were examined; The most common age was 18, the mean age was 14, the number of girl cases was 203 (43.1%), the number of male cases was 268 (56.9%), the most common type of event was the assault, while traffic accidents were the second most frequent, the most frequently injured body area in cases under 18 years old was the extremities in 154 (32.7%), followed by head injuries in 101 (21.4%) cases, and life-threatening injuries in 19 (4%) cases. It was found that it was seen most frequently in July and least in April.
 Conclusion: The data determined in our study were in parallel with similar studies in the literature, while the most common cause of death in autopsy series was determined as traffic accident, it was seen that the most common cause of injury in outpatients who applied to our polyclinic was assault.