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Fatal craniofacial circular-saw-related injury: a rare case of accidental death

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Abstract

Fatal injuries caused by circular saws are rare and mainly self-inflicted. To the best of our knowledge this is the first recorded case of accidental death of a woman caused by an injury to the head region inflicted by a saw blade. The autopsy showed a 35 cm long wound, stretching from the right half of the jaw along the right side of the face and the right temporal region up to the parietal region. The cut went through the right hemisphere of the brain in the temporal and parietal lobe regions, damaging the sagittal sinus. Air embolism was considered to be the cause of death. Fatalities involving power tools, such as a circular saw, warrant a high degree of suspicion of criminal activity and require a comprehensive medicolegal investigation. Placing guards over the blade and around the driving system, i.e. the motor, belt, arbor, is of great importance for the prevention of potentially fatal injuries.

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Acknowledgments

This work was supported by the Ministry of Education, Science and Technological Development of the Republic of Serbia, Grant No. 175093.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Institute of Forensic Medicine “Milovan Milovanović”, University of Belgrade - School of Medicine, 31a Deligradska str, Belgrade, 11000, Serbia

    Bogdanović Milenko, Radnić Bojana & Durmić Tijana

  2. Institute for Orthopedic Surgery, Banjica, 28 Mihaila Avramovića Street, Belgrade, Serbia

    Baljozović Andreja

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  1. Bogdanović Milenko
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  2. Radnić Bojana
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  3. Durmić Tijana
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  4. Baljozović Andreja
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Correspondence to Bogdanović Milenko.

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Milenko, B., Bojana, R., Tijana, D. et al. Fatal craniofacial circular-saw-related injury: a rare case of accidental death. Forensic Sci Med Pathol 16, 721–723 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12024-020-00260-1

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12024-020-00260-1

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