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Abstract

The captive bolt gun (slaughterer's gun) is a tool used in the meat industry for "humane killing" of animals. Used with the intent of suicide, the captive bolt gun causes very serious injuries. We analysed 19 self-inflicted head injuries with captive bolt gun during the past 20 years. Autopsy of 20 pigs killed by this method was also performed. All 19 cases were middle-aged men from rural areas, with low level of education, and without a previous psychiatric history. Five of them used the captive bolt gun daily in their professional activities, while the remaining 14 handled it only sometimes. In seven cases suicide was primarily successful, while in five patients, despite intensive medical care, serious craniocerebral injuries eventually resulted in death. Total mortality was 63.2%. The clinical appearance of the entrance wound and the imaging characteristics of the cranial trauma are very specific, and can be easily differentiated from firearm or other penetrating injuries. These wounds were always primarily infected with mixed bacterial flora from the skin. Therefore, besides radical primary wound care, especially of the wound canal with removal of foreign bodies, it is important to administer high doses of wide spectrum antibiotics.

Surviving the Scene in Civilian Penetrating Brain Injury: Injury Type, Cause and Outcome in a Consecutive Patient Series in Austria

“…Interestingly, CBP was used in 21% of our patient cohort, while in general CBP is seen as a very rare type of PBI. Only a few reports on CBP injuries exist, which exclusively come from European countries, where this animal slaughter technique is widely used and licence policy for these tools is generally less strict (19)(20)(21). In our series, CBP injuries were exclusively used in self-inflicted injuries and showed typical findings on CCT with a displaced skull fragment into the parenchyma (Figures 1C,D).…”

“…In our series, CBP injuries were exclusively used in self-inflicted injuries and showed typical findings on CCT with a displaced skull fragment into the parenchyma ( Figures 1C,D ). A mortality of 60%–90% has been reported in the literature ( 19 , 20 ). This is in strong contrast to our series with no mortality during the follow-up and a favourable outcome in 40% of patients.…”

Accidental Bolt Gun Injury to Femur - A Case Report

“…Injuries caused by bolt gun are rare, reported exclusively from central European countries [ 3 ] and cases are reported about their use in homicide [ 6 , 7 ] and suicide [ 8 , 9 , 10 ] with mortality of more than 60%. [ 1 , 2 ]. The death by bolt gun is by concussive force and penetration of the bolt [ 1 ].…”

Captive Bolt Gun-Related Vascular Injury: A Single Center Experience

“…Captive bolt gun (CBG) head injuries represent a rare form of penetrating brain injuries with only a few documented cases in the literature [1][2][3][4][5][6][7]. This is a device that is commonly employed in the meat industry to stun animals before slaughter [1,2].…”

“…A bolt penetrates the scull, causing direct and indirect injures to the brain parenchyma through bone fragments [1,2]. The bolt length varies among different tool brands, ranging from 60 to 90 mm in various series [1,3,4]. CBG head injuries are classified as low-velocity penetrating brain injuries, given that the bolt's peak velocity ranges between 30 and 60 m per second [1,3,4].…”