Mandal SP, Senthil KR, Vaishnav D (2017) Unintentional Celebratory Gunshot to a 3-year-old Child with Injury to Deep Circumlex Iliac Artery - A Rare Case Report. Int J Forensic
Sci Pathol. 5(4), 357-359.
357
OPEN ACCESS http://scidoc.org/IJFP.php
International Journal of Forensic Science & Pathology (IJFP)
ISSN 2332-287X
Unintentional Celebratory Gunshot to a 3-year-old Child with Injury to Deep Circumlex Iliac Artery -
A Rare Case Report
Case Report
Mandal SP
1*
, Senthil KR
2
, Vaishnav D
3
1
Additional Professor, Department of Forensic Medicine, PGIMER, Chandigarh, India.
2
Senior Resident, Department of Forensic Medicine, PGIMER, Chandigarh, India.
3
Junior Resident, Department of Forensic Medicine, PGIMER, Chandigarh, India.
Introduction
Celebratory iring is one of the causes of accidental irearm re-
lated injuries in India [1]. Though some states have banned it af-
ter some fatalities reported at marriage functions and festivals, in
many states of North India, people still practice this as a custom.
We report such kind of irearm injury to a female child. She died
due to haemorrhagic shock following injury to the deep circum-
lex iliac artery, a rare kind of injury to be reported in an acciden-
tal gunshot fatality.
Case Report
A 3-year-old girl was brought to the Pediatric Emergency Depart-
ment of PGIMER, Chandigarh with an alleged history of irearm
injury in a marriage function held in the North Indian state of
Haryana. Immediately she was taken to a local hospital where the
wound was cleaned and stitched. The ultrasound taken at that
time was normal, and after 12 hours of the conservative treat-
ment, she was shifted here as per the wish of her parents.
She arrived the Emergency room with a feeble pulse, tachycar-
dia and her blood pressure was 70/32 mmHg. The abdomen was
found distended, tender and guarding rigidity was noted. The
X-ray in supine position showed few dilated bowel loops with
no metallic foreign bodies. USG examination showed gross free
luid in abdomen and pelvis with oedema of bowel loops. After
9 hours of best efforts to save her life, she succumbed to her
injuries. The bleeding organ/vessel was not identiied clinically,
and cause of death was given as concealed abdominal haemor-
rhage with compartment syndrome in a case of gunshot injury.
The case was shifted to the Department of Forensic Medicine for
the purpose of post-mortem examination.
Autopsy Findings
On examination, a stitched irearm entry wound was noted on
the right side of the upper abdomen, 3 cm above and 5 cm lateral
to the umbilicus. On removing the stitches, the wound measured
0.7 x 0.6 cm, and a ring of abrasion collar surrounded by a contu-
sion ring was found in and around the margins of the wound. A
stitched irearm exit wound was present over the left hip, 1 cm
*Corresponding Author:
Dr. Shatrughan Prasad Mandal,
Additional Professor, Department of Forensic Medicine, PGIMER, Chandigarh, India.
Email: drspmandalpgi@gmail.com
Received: May 26, 2017
Accepted: June 27, 2017
Published: July 04, 2017
Citation: Mandal SP, Senthil KR, Vaishnav D (2017) Unintentional Celebratory Gunshot to a 3-year-old Child with Injury to Deep Circumlex Iliac Artery - A Rare Case Report. Int J
Forensic Sci Pathol. 5(4), 357-359. doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.19070/2332-287X-1700078
Copyright: Mandal SP
©
2017. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution
and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.
Abstract
Celebratory iring is one of the causes of Unintentional irearm injuries. This paper reports a case of a 3-year-old female
child who died following gunshot injury sustained in a marriage function she attended with her parents. The bullet entered
from the right upper abdomen and injured deep circumlex iliac artery on the left side before perforating the left iliac blade
and leaving the body. The rarity of the vessel injury caused the clinician to miss the hemoperitoneum initially which lead to
hemorrhagic shock and inally death. This article discusses the mechanism of gunshot injury sustained by the girl, and also
urges the government to implement strict laws to prevent such kind of accidents in the future.
Keywords: Unintentional Firearm Injuries; Celebratory Firing; Deep Circumlex Iliac Artery; Hemoperitoneum; Hemor-
rhagic Shock.