Search

Background: Any medical college hospital's emergency room should constantly be prepared to treat a wide range of cases that are brought in. Knowing the patterns of cases that are presented before it is crucial for this reason, as is making the necessary arrangements to handle them. Materials and methods: The present study is retrospective study to know the trends of medico legal cases brought to SSG Hospital, Vadodara from July 1st, 2016 to December 31st, 2016. Cases include those brought to the hospital's casualty department. Results: A total number of 5408 cases were reported between July 1st, 2016 to December 31st, 2016. Among the 5408 cases reported, 79.99% were male and 26.01% were female making a male to female ratio 3:1. It was observed that urban victims constituted 51.09% and the rural victims were 48.91%. Similar 27.59% were in the age group 21-30 years followed by 21.95% in the 31-40 age group. The maximum number of cases were of RTA's (38.31%) followed by assault (20.25%) and poisoning (9.28%). Conclusion: The current study offers data on the trend of medico legal cases brought to SSG Hospital, Vadodara, including details on the cases' age, sex, and etiological factors. Data is examined statistically and shown in tabular form. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In casualty, Casualty Medical Officers come across a maximum number of Medico-legal cases. Any case where the doctor feels that it should be investigated by the Police or a Magistrate is considered as Medico legal case. As it is a Medico legal case, there will be an inquiry by the investigating officer and if needed an Investigating officer may require a report of that case to produce to the court. The doctor who has issued report can be called to the court to give the evidence regarding that case. Identifying the pattern of injuries, types of cases, age-wise distribution, and sex distribution of Medico-legal cases reported to the casualty department of the hospital will help administrators, social workers, NGO's, and policymakers to successfully manage and prevent such cases by devising necessary policies. A retrospective study was conducted at Employee State Insurance Corporation Medical College, Kalaburagi, Karnataka, India. All the reported cases to casualty between April 2022 and March 2023 at ESIC Medical College, Kalaburagi were analyzed. Total of 452 Medico-legal cases were analyzed which were attended in casualty in span of one year out of total 11288 Casualty cases. In that 344 were male and 108 female patients. In the present study, the maximum MLCs were Road Traffic Accidents, followed by assault, poisoning and others. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Domestic Violence profoundly impacts women's health and well-being, a universally acknowledged reality. This study aims to assess the occurrence, characteristics, and consequences of domestic Violence among married women. In India, Violence against women is entrenched in societal norms and economic dependence, manifesting in female feticide, domestic Violence, sexual harassment, and various gender-based abuses experienced by girls and women. Wife battering not only affects the well-being of abused women but also that of their children. Despite progress in female participation and legal amendments, India still faces a significant journey towards ensuring equal citizenship for women. Many women endure violent treatment by intimate partners in our society, often suffering in silence. In extreme cases, domestic violence results in fatalities. This paper explores the meaning, causes, types, and after-effects of domestic Violence on abused women. It also delves into managing this threat and scrutinizes the roles of social workers, professionals, and voluntary organizations in intervening for affected individuals. In conclusion, recommendations are presented to eliminate this societal menace. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background With an increasing number of cases of COVID-19 disease, the Indian government announced a complete lockdown on March 24, 2020, and the country remained under complete lockdown in April 2020. After ramping up health infrastructure and although cases were on the rise, the lockdown was ordered to gradually lift in May 2020. Methodology It was a retrospective cross-sectional study of all patients admitted to our medical college trauma center in April 2020 and who were compared with April 2019. We studied the prevalence and outcome of road traffic accidents (RTA), assault, and fall from height (FFH) victims admitted to our trauma center. Data were collected using an Excel sheet, and statistical analysis was done using the latest available SSPS software. Results Our study groups included 124 trauma patients from April 2020 as compared with 322 trauma patients from April 2019. The intense lockdown resulted in a decrease in the number of RTA (−72%), FFH (–29%), and assault patients (–7%). There was no statistically significant change in patients' care and management at our center in terms of mortality and morbidity. No Covid-19-positive neurosurgery trauma patients were admitted in April 2020 to our center. Conclusion During the stringent lockdown period of April 2020, there was a significant decrease in the number of trauma victims, especially RTAs. The intense lockdown resulted in a significant decrease in the proportion of trauma victims under the influence of alcohol, head injuries, fractures, and dislocations along with a decrease in the number of cases of assaults and FFH as compared with the unlock period. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Workplace violence (WPV) is a significant problem in both developed and developing countries among healthcare workers. The study aims to examine the perspective of resident doctors on various aspects of WPV to promote a better understanding of the complexity of the problem of WPV at a tertiary care center in India. Material and Methods: Seven focus group discussions were conducted with resident doctors from various departments, which were recruited through convenience and snowball sampling. Discussions were audio recorded and transcribed verbatim to English. Thematic analysis was done using Atlas. ti 8 to generate themes, subthemes, and codes from the discussions. Results: A total of 39 resident doctors with a mean age of 28.0 ± 3.8 years were recruited. The themes that emerged during the analysis are as follows: types of WPV, risk factors for WPV, the impact of WPV, and mitigation strategies for WPV. Conclusion: Exposure to WPV is not uncommon in India. Factors associated from individual to policy level are involved in subjugating the episodes of violence. Findings from this study will contribute in devising mitigation strategies for the same. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Casualty department of any hospital is an important area, because most of the medical emergencies and almost all medico legal cases report first to causality of hospital. The prime duty of doctor is to treat and save the life of patient, however once stabilizedthe same doctor has to carry out exhaustive documentation of medico legal cases. This puts on extra burden on duty Doctor. The present study is carried out with a view to understand the pattern and magnitude of Medico legal cases in this region. Two years retrospective data was collectedbetween 1st January 2018 to 31st December 2019 from the casualty, Basaveshwara Medical College, Chitradurga. Study revealed that Poisoning (40.04%) constituted majority of medico legal cases followed by road traffic accidents (31.12%) with male preponderance (3.32:1); majority of victims were between 21-30 years (32.5%); large number of victims were urban inhabitants (57.4%); most of the cases were from Hindu community (90.4%); majority of cases (58.9%) reported to casualty within 1 hour from the time of incidence;maximum number of cases (40.50%) were reported between 6 pm - 12 am of the day; maximum number of cases was treated on the IPD basis (64.30%);more number of MLC was reported in month of August (48 cases). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Restraint, often linked with limiting an individual's freedom of movement, has become a focal point of extensive discussion and evaluation within the realm of mental healthcare. Striking a delicate balance between ensuring individual safety and minimizing reliance on restraint methods poses a significant challenge. In mental health inpatient settings, the prevalent forms of restraint encompass physical, chemical, environmental, and psychological methods. Paradoxically, the consequences of employing restraint can be severe, ranging from injuries and cognitive decline to sedation and, in extreme cases, fatalities. This paper seeks to offer a nuanced exploration of the landscape surrounding psychiatric patient restraints, considering both global perspectives and specific insights from the Indian context. The guidelines outlined in India's Mental Healthcare Act of 2017, which governs the use of restraint on individuals suffering with mental illnesses, are also examined in detail., Competing Interests: Declaration of Competing Interest The authors declare no conflict of interest., (Copyright © 2024 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

Objective: Covid19 pandemic challenged the global healthcare system and both developed and developing countries responded with their might to fight this global pandemic. Road traffic accidents are a major cause of morbidity and mortality in India and we studied the impact of lockdown on neurosurgery trauma patients in a tertiary care centre in India. Methods: Indian government announced complete lockdown on 25th march 2020 and India remained in complete lockdown till 31st May 2020. We included the patients admitted from 1st January 2020 to 24th March 2020 in pre lockdown period and25th march to In this cross-sectional study we divided the patients into two groups of pre lockdown and lockdown period and incidence of neurosurgery trauma patients was assessed for Road Traffic Accident, assault, hit by animal and fall from height. Result: In our study 491 patients were admitted in pre lockdown and 369 patients were admitted in lockdown period. Road traffic accident patients were more in pre lockdown 39.5% (n=194) as compared to lockdown period 31.2% (n=115). However, cases of assaults were more in the lockdown period (14.6%, n=54) as compared to pre lockdown (3.9%, n=19). The death rate in neurosurgery trauma patients reduced significantly in lockdown (7.3%, n=27) as compared to pre lockdown (21.8%, n=107). Conclusion: The COVID19 pandemic induced lockdown resulted in a decrease in motor vehicle movements which further decreased the incidence of RTA and related trauma however incidence of assault-related trauma and cases increased significantly in this period. The overall outcome of such patients improved probably due to better utilization of available health care facilities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background and Aims: In the COVID-19 times, Indian sub-continent is struggling to contain the epidemic and trying to strengthen the existing health infrastructure, the national level lockdown has raised concerns about the pattern of injuries whether it has remained the same or has changed over this period. This is the first study to compare injury pattern during the two months lockdown period with the data of corresponding months from years 2016-2020. Also we compared the age- and sex-wise distribution patterns of these injuries for the above mentioned period. Methods: This retrospective cross sectional study was conducted by the Department of Orthopaedics in Guru Gobind Singh Medical College and Hospital (GGSMCH) in Faridkot, Punjab. Secondary data for patient's age and sex, mode of injury, and site of injury was collected through record review for the period of two months (24th March to 24th May) for five consecutive years of 2016-2020. Descriptive analysis and Chi-square test was used to see the association between age and sex with mode and type of injury. Results: The five year injury trends reflected that the proportion of injuries in 2016 was 16.5% (n = 48) of the total musculoskeletal injuries (n = 291) which rose to 23.4% (n = 68) in 2020. Majority of the patients were males (80%), and belonged to adult age group (69.4%) followed by elderly (17.2%), adolescents (8.6%) and children (4.8%). The proportion of road traffic accidents out of all injuries significantly reduced during the lock down period of two months in 2020 (p = 0.001). On the contrary, the proportion of injuries due to falls as well as unspecified assault increased significantly in 2020 as compared to previous years. Conclusions: The proportion of musculoskeletal injuries have increased from 2016-2020. Unspecified assault and all types of falls pushed the road traffic accidents to third position during the lockdown period in 2020 as compared to previous four years. Injury surveillance needs to be integrated in routine hospital system for precise information and for more efficient functioning. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Number of person suffering from some kind of illness is increasing day by day. In addition to the individuals suffering from various disease, person with medico-legal injuries or complaints are also admitted in the hospital. A hospital is a place where a patient gets required treatment, undergoes various investigations, procedures and medico-legal formalities when required. In a tertiary care hospital, Emergency Medical Officer is the first doctor to attend the patient. In any case first and foremost duty of a doctor is to save the life of patient. After providing the first aid and following the treatment protocol another duty is to do all medico-legal formalities like issuing Medico-legal reports and sending police information etc in a police case. A medico-legal case is a case where a patient has some assault injuries or having some complaint where a doctor thinks that some kind of information to police is required in the case. Aims and Objectives: To prepare and evaluate complete demographic profile of medico-legal cases admitted at our tertiary care hospital. Materials and Method: A one and half year retrospective study was conducted in department of Forensic Medicine at G.G.S. Medical College, Faridkot. This study was conducted on cases that came during the period under study i.e. from 1st January 2017 to 30th June 2018. Results: A total of 1850 medico-legal cases got registered in the emergency during the period under study. Out of these, medico-legal reports were prepared in 1510 cases. Majority of cases in which MLR was issued were of assault followed by road traffic accident. Males dominated the females and commonest age group affected was 21-30 years in our study. Majority of victims got admitted in Surgery department followed by Orthopedics and Neurosurgery department. Most victims came during period from 8PM to 8AM. Maximum number of cases reported in months of summers than winters. Most of the victims were of rural background. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Head is the most vulnerable region in the human body to sustain injury by mechanical force. Head Injuries are a leading cause of mortality in India and continue to increase by the year. In order to assess the magnitude, a three year prospective autopsy analysis of head injuries was conducted in KIMS hospital, Bangalore, between 2011 and 2014 with regard to demographic and injury pattern. Results: Majority of the victims were males and aged between 31-40 years. 57% of the cases of head injury were due to road traffic accidents. The parieto-temporal region of the vault of the skull was the most frequently involved in fractures. 40% cases were associated with intracranial haemorrhage, and the most frequently present intracranial haemorrhage was Subdural Haemorrhage. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In India about one lakh thirty thousand deaths occur annually due to road traffic accidents and many women suffer from injuries due to domestic injuries. It is important that doctors working in different hospitals and the police work hand in hand to help the injured. Our legal system has to correct loop holes in the legal procedures to avoid people losing their lives waiting for treatment in medicolegal cases. A medico legal case is when a person gets injured or harmed in any way and needs medical attention. It also means Injury cases which suggest some criminal offense. Following are classified as medicolegal cases like burn injuries, vehicular accidents including railways and other modes of transport, suspected homicide/ murder, poisoning, sexual assault and criminal abortion. Unconscious patient due to unknown reasons, brought dead or die shortly after admission in the hospital without proper medical documents to indicate cause of death also come under medicolegal cases. Patient dying suddenly following administration of medication or when death occurs in the ICU or during surgery can also be classified under medico legal cases. A medical autopsy is a must to be ordered under all the above circumstances. It is the legal duty of the treating doctor to report it to the nearest police station immediately after completing primary lifesaving medical care in all medicolegal cases. This is in accordance with Section 39 of Criminal Procedure Code of India. The basic idea is to initiate legal proceeding at the earliest so that maximum evidence can be collected by the police officer. Immediate action by the police also helps to avoid the destruction of evidence by the treating doctor. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This retrospective study was conducted to analyze the pattern and magnitude of all the medico legal cases registered in the emergency Dept of MGH, Khammam, between Jan 2016 to Dec 2016.Total 1312 cases were studied, 1225 were males and 187 were females. The most of the victims were of the age group 21-30 years. Majority of victims were Hindus, married, urban, secondary educated, belonged to low socioeconomic class, working as laborers. Maximum number of MLCs reported to casualty were in winter season. This study revealed that RTAs constitute majority of 529 [40.32%] of medico legal cases followed by poisoning 259 [19.74%], thermal buns 153 [11.66%], fall from height 102 [7.77%], assault 94 [7.16%] cases and asphyxial 72[5.48%] in relation to the cause of admission. The manner of injuries were accidental in nature in majority of cases. Most of the patients reported in hospital within one hour of sustaining the injury / other causes. The peak time of attending to the casualty was during 12 pm to 6 p.m. Maximum numbers of MLCs were treated on the indoor basis. Most of MLCs were registered at the time of admission. Single department opinions were most common. Maximum opinions were shout from Surgery. Utmost numbers of cases were discharged after completion of treatment. Main object of the present study is to evaluate complete profile & pattern of medico-legal cases at a tertiary care hospital. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Traumatic brain injuries are posing high burden of mortality and morbidity in the world with particular threat to developing nation like India, which is heading towards ultra-modernization at rapid pace. The major load of such injuries lies on road Road Traffic accidents, industrial Accidents, Domestic accidents, fall from height and physical assaults. Methodology: The present study was carried out in the Mortuary, of Bowring and Lady Curzon Hospital, Bangalore attached to the Department of Forensic Medicine, Bangalore Medical College, Bangalore, over a period of two year from January 2003 to January 2005. A total of 57 cases of deaths due to TBI have been studied. The study was a cross-sectional study. Results: RTA is leading cause of traumatic brain injuries among all with 71.93% followed by fall 22.81%. All the causes showed male predominance with males involved being 92.68% and most vulnerable age group was those in 3rd, 4th and 5th decade of life. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: This study is aimed to determine the frequency, sociodemographic profile, clinical presentation, patterns of injury, treatment and outcomes of cases of simultaneous bilateral ocular trauma treated in a teaching hospital of Northern India., Methods: This retrospective study was conducted from May 2015 to April 2019. The medical records of patients presenting with bilateral ocular injuries were reviewed., Results: Among the 402 patients presenting with ocular injuries, 34 (8.5%) had simultaneous bilateral ocular trauma. The majority were male (70.6%), and the mean age was 26.82 ± 15.86 years (range: 2-70 years). The most frequently affected age group has been 16-25 years (35.3%). Most injuries occurred away from home (64.7%), mainly on roads (32.4%) or playgrounds (14.7%), and the vast majority (91.2%) were non-occupational in nature. Mechanical injuries were most frequent (47.1%), followed by cracker (17.7%), chemical (17.7%) and thermal (11.8%) injuries. Most cases occurred due to assault (26.5%), road traffic injury (20.6%) or sports/recreational activities (17.7%). The majority of victims were not using protective devices at the time of injury (82.4%) and had associated polytrauma (58.8%). Closed and open globe injuries accounted for 29.4% and 14.7% of cases, respectively, mostly involving zones I (55.0%) and II (40.0%). Orbital fractures occurred in 27.9% of eyes. Category I and II ocular trauma scores were noted in 5.9% and 7.4% of eyes, respectively. Overall, 13.2% were blinded as a result of the trauma., Conclusion: Simultaneous bilateral ocular trauma is rare and occurs mostly following road traffic accidents, assault or recreational activities. In particular, young-adult males are more prone to bilateral ocular injuries, the majority of which are severe and associated with poor outcomes. The study also highlights that poor initial visual acuity, multiple ocular structure involvement, large open globe injury, presence of intraocular hemorrhage, posterior segment injury, multiple orbital fractures and lower OTS were the poor prognostic factors., (© 2021. The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer Nature B.V.)

Background : There has been an alarming increase in discrimination and violence towards Asians during the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic amid reports that the virus was first detected in China. In an incident involving a COVID-19-related physical assault, this study examined whether economic hardship experienced by participants during the pandemic and the race of the victim (Chinese, White) would influence support to compensate a victim and punish the assailant. The study also explored whether the perception that the victim experienced emotional and physical suffering due to the assault would mediate the relationships. Method : Participants in India and the United States reported on their own economic hardship due to the pandemic. They then read about an incident in which an innocent person suffered a COVID-19-related physical and verbal attack, and indicated if they would support punishing the assailant and financially compensating the victim. Results : When the victim was Chinese, participants experiencing a high degree of COVID-19 economic hardship were less likely to support financially compensating the victim or punishing the assailant compared to when the victim was White. Furthermore, when the victim was Chinese, the negative associations between economic hardship and financially compensating the victim and punishing the assailant were mediated by reduced recognition that the victim suffered emotional trauma and pain as a result of the attack. Conclusions : COVID-19-driven economic hardship experienced by participants predicted an array of reactions that reflected reduced recognition of the civil and human rights of a victim of a COVID-19-related assault. These findings have significant implications for mental health, public health, and the justice system, and underscore the pressing need for prompt action to mitigate economic hardship and to address racism and discrimination.

Objectives A retrospective study of pattern of medico-legal cases (MLCs) in Rajiv Gandhi Institute of Medical Sciences (RIMS) Adilabad, a medical college located in northern tribal area of Andhrapradesh was carried out to provide feedback to clinician, forensic experts, social workers and legal experts of Adilabad. Materials and methods Data was collected from records of patients admitted in RIMS Adilabad, from the period of 1st October 2008 to 30th September 2009. All the MLCs of one year period were studied. Results In all admitted cases 10.39% were MLCs. Physical injury observed in 78.25% while there was no injury in remaining 21.75% cases. Major reason behind MLCs were -- RTAs (road traffic accidents) 30.18%, fall due to various reasons (17.34%), suicide/attempted suicide cases (13.82%), assault (11.22%) and animal attack (9.87%). Conclusion Our study concludes that unusual high number of suicidal tendencies and RTAs are indicators of tremendous impact of developmental activities in the region without substantial improvement at the socioeconomic front. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]