The importance of radiographic imaging in determining the direction of shooting in maxillofacial gunshot wounds

Abstract

Objective: The aim of this study is to investigate the importanceof the initial radiographies of patients whose firstmedical intervention was made outside the country bordersand recovered after treatment in our hospital.Methods: The patients with maxillofacial trauma due togunshot and shrapnel injuries who were treated by Departmentof Otolaryngology in the last year were examinedretrospectively. Twenty two patients were includedto the study, who had injuries in another country and whowere received initial medical treatments there. The maxillofacialcomputed tomographies of patients which wereperformed before the treatment were evaluated accordingto the direction of movement of bone fracture fragments.Results: The youngest patient was 17 years old and theoldest one was 43 years old. All the patients were male. Itwas observed that all of the patients were referred to ourhospital after the first intervention had been made in othermedical centers. There was no reliable information aboutthe event of injury and type of used weapon. According tothe findings of the radiological images, the directions ofshootings were determined by the evaluation of the directionsof bone fragments in 19 (86.4%) patients.Conclusion: The initial radiographic images of dead ormedically treated patients with bone fractures due to gunshotinjuries, in cases with unidentified origins and injurymechanisms, play an important role in the determinationof the direction of shooting. The wounds have been identifiedwhether they are entry or exit wounds when the directionsof fire are determined.Key words: Gunshot, direction of fire, bone fractur