0000000000148100
AUTHOR
Francesco La Corte
Unusual attempted suicide or covered attempted homicide? A neck stabbing case report and review of literature.
A medico-legal consult is frequently required in a clinical context in order to assess the eventual compatibility of specific wounds with a self- or hetero-infliction. Accordingly, the case of a 52-year-old man with a single, penetrating stab wound of the neck, reported as self-inflicted, is here presented. The forensic aspects, taken into account in order to determine the self- or hetero-infliction nature of the wound, are further discussed and compared to cases described in the literature.
MULTIDISCIPLINARY APPROACH IN A SURGICAL PRECISION NECK STABBING
Trauma involving the neck region are to always be considered as clinical/surgical emergencies because of the presence of vascular, nervous and lymphatic vessels, along with the pharyngo-esophageal and laryngo-tracheal structures. For this reason, therapeutic and diagnostic timing arouses great interest. The authors report the case of a conscious and hemodynamically stable man, presented to the emergency room for a neck penetrating trauma, caused by a knife passing through his neck (zone II) from right to left. A correct instrumental examination (CT angiography and selective right carotid axis angiography) and the multidisciplinary surgical approach proved to be fundamental for the safe extr…