Wound Ballistics

Abstract

Attempts to explain wound ballistics (the study of effects on the body produced by penetrating projectiles) have only succeeded in mystifying it. This review explains the projectile-tissue interaction and presents data showing the location, type, and amount of tissue disruption characteristically produced by various projectiles. Data on tissue disruption are presented graphically as wound profiles. The major misconceptions in the field are listed, analyzed, and disentangled. Failure in adhering to the basic precepts of scientific method is the common denominator in all of the listed misconceptions; the result has been diversion of attention from the element essential to understanding and properly treating the gunshot wound--objective evaluation of the wound itself.

An Experimental Investigation of the Functional Hypothesis and Evolutionary Advantage of Stone-Tipped Spears

“…Each wound track consisted of two parts, what we are calling the ‘inner’ and ‘outer’ cavities (Figure 3D, E), which are analogous to the ‘permanent’ and ‘temporary’ cavities in bullet ballistics [54]. In our experiments, the outer cavities sometimes extended past the limits of the gelatin mold.…”

“…In ballistics research, the outer wound track is generally associated with bruising and less debilitating tissue damage [54]. An increased area of bruising for untipped spears may be due to the fact that untipped spears displace flesh primarily through pressure as opposed to cutting.…”

“…Wound ballistics research uses gelatin targets to investigate wound track profiles, which demonstrate how different types of weapons damage flesh [54], [55]. There are two parts of the ballistics wound track; the permanent cavity and the temporary cavity .…”

“…The type of damage experienced by this stretching is a kind of ‘blunt trauma’, which often manifests physically as a bruise. Because elastic tissues like muscle, bowel walls, and lungs, are fairly resistant to damage from stretching, the size of the temporary cavity is not seen as a key contributor to the lethality of the wound [54].…”

The Epidemiologic Basis for the Prevention of Firearm Injuries

“…The number of projectiles striking the body also influences the expected severity of injury. Shotguns fire a large number of independent and relatively slow moving pellets that are virtually harmless from a distance, but devastat ing at close range (25).…”