Case reportFatal injury by high-pressure water jet unit – A case report
Introduction
Recently, various high-pressure water jets have been used in our lifestyle, such as in water fountains, water skiing, water sliders, and car wash jets, or in industries, such as in breaking concrete, cleaning chemical pipes, and firing hose jets, among others. Although high-pressure water jet devices have improved our life, several lines of accumulating studies have reported some accidental fatal cases due to injuries caused by these devices (Table 1). In this manuscript, we report a fatal case of high-pressure water-inflicted femoral injury and discuss trends and issues regarding these cases.
Section snippets
Case profile
At 3:30 p.m., a male in his twenties was found at a construction site with significant bleeding from the left femoral region. He was a construction worker who was cutting concrete using a high-pressure water jet unit since 2:00 p.m. According to his colleagues, he normally operated a high-pressure water jet unit at 3:00 p.m. Unfortunately, 3 h after discovery, his death was confirmed in an emergency hospital. A medico-legal autopsy was then carried out on the next day in order to determine his
Postmortem computed tomography (PMCT)
PMCT showed subcutaneous and intramuscular gas at the left and right thigh regions (Fig. 1). However, both femurs did not appear to be fractured.
Autopsy findings
The deceased was 182 cm in height and weighed 62.5 kg. Postmortem rigidity strongly appeared in his whole joints, and postmortem lividity, being dark purplish red in color, was moderately found on the back and posterior legs, marginally disappearing when they were pressed. Rectal temperature was also noted to be 34 °C. Palpebral conjunctiva were pale. In the left medial femoral region, there was a deep, fatal, large laceration, which was 28 cm in length (Fig. 2A), extending from the middle
Discussion
In this case, the left femoral injury was estimated to be stabbed with something baculiform at high speed, and the right femoral injuries were seemingly inflicted by skin traction through tangential impact of the same weapon. Thus, we could conclude that a high-pressure water jet unit was the weapon in this case. Transection of both the femoral artery and vein, along with findings of anemic organs, also suggested severe blood loss. Considering the autopsy findings and police scene
Acknowledgements
We sincerely thank Fukumi Furukawa, Emi Shimada and Akihiko Kimura for their technical support and instructive suggestion.
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