Journal/Magazine Articles
Permanent URI for this collectionhttp://repository.kln.ac.lk/handle/123456789/13
This collection contains original research articles, review articles and case reports published in local and international peer reviewed journals by the staff members of the Faculty of Medicine
Browse
2 results
Search Results
Item Injuries in the vulnerable road user fatalities; a study from Sri Lanka(Elsevier, 2014) Edirisinghe, P.A.S.; Kitulwatte, I.D.G.; Senarathne, U.D.Vulnerable Road Users defined as people at risk in traffic due to absence of an outside protective shield to absorb energy during a collision are mainly pedestrians, bicycle riders and motor cyclists. In low income countries, deaths of VRUs outnumber vehicular drivers and occupants. A forensic pathologist not only reports the cause of death but also forms opinions on type of road user. We attempted to find whether pedestrians could be differentiated from other types of VRUs. A retrospective descriptive study, based on case records of VRUs fatalities from 2005 to 2012 referred to a tertiary care unit for post-mortem examination, was conducted. A pro-forma was developed to extract data from the post-mortem reports and toxicology reports. Data was analysed using SPSS version16. Out of the 328 cases 48% (n = 157) were pedestrians while 45% (n = 147) were riders/pillion riders of two wheeled vehicles and 5% (n = 16) were drivers/occupants of three-wheelers. The majority (87%) was males and 43% of pedestrians were elderly. 59% had 10–25 injuries and 87% had external injuries in the head, face and neck. The majority of skeletal injuries were in the skull followed by ribs. Analysis of different variables of pedestrians to other types of VRUs showed that the variables of, elderly male, road crosser, skull injuries, brain injuries, cause of death being head injuries and multiple injuries were significantly greater among pedestrian group (p: <0.001). The traffic hours (peak and off peak), number of injuries, rib injuries, limb injuries, crushed/run over injuries or lung and liver injuries had no significant association. Although some features helped in determining a pedestrian, many other factors were not associated to differentiate a pedestrian from other VRUs. Therefore, a forensic pathologist has to be cautious in expressing opinions when other corroborative evidence is lacking.Item A Study into blood alcohol concentration in fatal accidents among vulnerable road users in a tertiary care hospital Sri Lanka(Informa Healthcare, 2015) Edirisinghe, P.A.S.; Kitulwatte, I.D.G.; Senarathne, U.D.Reckless driving behaviour associated with alcohol has been well known. In Sri Lanka, research on blood alcohol concentration (BAC) in roadfatalities is scares. Thus, we studied the BAC in vulnerable road users (VRUs) encountered in medico-legal autopsies. A retrospective descriptive study based on case records of VRU fatalities from 2005 to 2012 referred for a tertiary care unit for post-mortem examination was conducted. A pro-forma was developed to extract data from the post-mortem blood alcohol reports. Data were analysed using percentages and p-values. There were 119 cases from the 328 autopsies to investigate blood alcohol tests. A total of 51% (n = 61) out of 119 had BAC above 80 mg/100 ml and mean level was 103 mg/100 ml. 2/3 of pedestrians had a BAC above 80 mg/100 ml with a mean level of 139 mg/dl. The highest mean blood alcohol (158 mg/dl) was reported from three-wheeler users. Majority of cases with more than 80 mg/100 ml BAC was reported in the age group of 40-60 years, while 40% of the elderly too had a BAC above 80 mg/100 ml. The comparison between pedestrians having above 80 mg/100 ml of BAC with that of other VRUs (active road users) showed a significant statistical difference (p = 0.017). Thestudy results suggest that alcohol influence among pedestrians represent a significant risk factor for fatal road traffic accidents.