KBB-Forum 2004 , Cilt 3, Sayı 2

AN EXTRAORDINARY BULLET TRAJECTORY:FIREARMS INJURY IN THE HEAD AND NECK REGION

Dr. Lokman UZUN1, Dr. Fikret ÇINAR1, Dr. Eksal KARGI2, Dr. Mehmet Birol UĞUR1
1Zonguldak Karaelmas Üniversitesi, KBB AD, Zonguldak, Türkiye
2Zonguldak Karaelmas Üniversitesi, Plastik ve Rekonstrüktif Cerrahi AD, Zonguldak, Türkiye
Head and neck region, involves many anatomical structures of vital importance. Therefore, firearms injuries of this region more commonly lead up to life threatening clinical situations than the other anatomical regions. In such situations the severity and seriousness of the injury depends on the ballistic properties of the bullet. In this paper, in a patient which has been brought to the emergency service due to firearms injury in the head and neck region, the abnormal trajectory of the projectile which has been presumably heading towards the cervical vertebrae when the entrance hole and the first intraoral collision point of the bullet is taken into consideration, the injury to the surrounding tissues and the fundamentals of the applied surgical treatment has been discussed. Keywords : firearms, injury, head, neck, treatment