Ballistic Skeletal Injuries: An Experimental Study of the Orthopaedic, Biomechanic and Forensic Characteristics

Abstract

We have just survived the most violent century in history.

Ballistic skeletal injuries continue to kill or injure hundreds of thousands of people globally every year and yet our knowledge of these injuries remains incomplete. The aim of this thesis is to analyze some of the orthopedic, biomechanics and forensic aspects of ballistic skeletal injuries to better understand their clinical significance and optimal management. In doing we cover aspects of bacterial contamination and cellular survival around direct ballistic fractures. We also analyze indirect and remote ballistic femoral fractures. From a biomechanics perspective we analyze how bone breaks when impacted by a projectile and what energy transfer is involved. And from a forensic perspective we analyze the morphology of bony wounds and describe a technique for identifying a bullet from the bullet wipe.