Interpretation of long bones ballistic trauma

Abstract

In a forensic anthropology perspective, precise interpretation of long bone ballistic trauma could be the only way to determine features essential to understand the appearance of the wounds. The creation of a bone ballistic wound is a complex phenomenon that results from the action of a missile and the reaction of the bone tissue. Thus, it is often crucial to reconstruct the fracture site in order to analyze the fracture patterns. We have applied the previously established fundamentals of ballistic injury to cranial bones to the tubular structures on long bones (plug-and-spall bone fragments, radiating and concentric heaving fracture patterns). From interpretation of examples, we can conclude that the physics of ballistic penetration are constant and the material properties of cranial and tubular bone seem similar.

Keywords: Ballistic; Forensic; Long bone; Trauma.