Evaluation of the admitted forensic cases to the emergency department

Forensic cases, whereas non-natural factors cause physical or behavioral damages, are mostly seen in the emergency departments (ED) of the hospitals. In this study, we aimed to contribute to the forensic records of our country by examining the demographic characteristics of the forensic cases who were admitted to our ED. Hospital records and forensic reports of the patients who were admitted to ED and accepted as forensic cases between 2014-2017 were retrospectively scanned, and evaluated. Age, gender, the reason for admission and results of the patients were examined. Data were recorded, and statistical analyzes were performed via SPSS v.16.0. A total of 824 forensic cases were admitted to the ED during the study period, and 61% (n = 503) were male. The mean age of the patients was 32,73 ± 15,65 years. Traffic accidents (n = 289; 35%) and occupational accidents (n = 208; 25.2%) were the most common causes of forensic case admissions. While 79.5% (n = 655) of the patients were discharged from the ED, 14.7% (n = 121) were hospitalized while 0.7% (n = 6) of the cases could not be saved despite all interventions. Traffic accidents and occupational accidents are among the most frequent forensic cases in our country, and it should be highlighted that these causes are preventable injuries. At the same time, while the rate of violence and sexual assault has been high all over the world, the reason that our study has no case admissions due to sexual assault and violence should be investigated.

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