Rare Run-Over Clinical Case. Evisceration of the Intestines through the Wrist

Background: Deaths resulting from car-pedestrian collisions are frequently encountered in forensic practice. Such accidents often cause extensive, multi-system injuries, many of which are concealed beneath minimally damaged soft tissues and may not be immediately visible externally. Common external...

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Main Authors: Jekaterina Strelčenko, Diana Vasiljevaitė, Sigitas Chmieliauskas, Sigitas Laima, Jurgita Stasiūnienė, Paulius Petreikis
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Vilnius University Press 2025-08-01
Series:Acta Medica Lituanica
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Online Access:https://www.journals.vu.lt/AML/article/view/38528
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author Jekaterina Strelčenko
Diana Vasiljevaitė
Sigitas Chmieliauskas
Sigitas Laima
Jurgita Stasiūnienė
Paulius Petreikis
author_facet Jekaterina Strelčenko
Diana Vasiljevaitė
Sigitas Chmieliauskas
Sigitas Laima
Jurgita Stasiūnienė
Paulius Petreikis
author_sort Jekaterina Strelčenko
collection DOAJ
description Background: Deaths resulting from car-pedestrian collisions are frequently encountered in forensic practice. Such accidents often cause extensive, multi-system injuries, many of which are concealed beneath minimally damaged soft tissues and may not be immediately visible externally. Common external injuries include extensive skin abrasions, subcutaneous hematomas, and lacerations. Internally, these incidents typically result in multiple bone fractures and severe organ ruptures. A less frequent but noteworthy injury is the evisceration of abdominal organs through ruptures in the diaphragm, rectum, or abdominal wall. This report presents a unique case of small intestine evisceration through damaged skin on the wrist.Materials and methods: The literature search was conducted in the PubMed and Google Scholar databases using keywords. The analysis focused on scientific literature that was published in last 10 years but also referred to older scientific papers with strong arguments. To the best of our knowledge, there are no reported cases of evisceration of abdominal contents through the damaged skin of the lower arm (wrist). A clinical case examination from the Lithuanian State Forensic Medicine Service data was performed.Case presentation: A 70-year-old woman was injured in the run-over accident by a truck. The victim died at the scene. External examination revealed multiple injuries, including significant soft tissue deformities in the left arm. During the internal examination of the corpse, multiple fractures with ruptures of internal organs were found. Only isolated fragments of intestinal loops were present in the abdominal cavity. Evisceration of the small intestines through the left upper arm and forearm was found.Conclusions: Run-over accidents involving heavy vehicles are a common cause of fatal injuries. These incidents often result in extensive lacerations, multiple comminated fractures, and severe damage to internal organs. In rare cases, evisceration of internal organs can occur through various anatomical sites. This case demonstrates that evisceration can occur not only through common locations such as the diaphragm, abdominal wall, rectum, or vagina but also through atypical sites, such as the skin of the wrist. In such cases, it is particularly important for a forensic pathologist to assess the damage of clothing and to evaluate the macromorphological appearance of the injuries to determine the mechanism of injury.
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publisher Vilnius University Press
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series Acta Medica Lituanica
spelling doaj-art-204ae4bf44b34fbdaf7589fa61ed14e52025-08-20T03:36:31ZengVilnius University PressActa Medica Lituanica1392-01382029-41742025-08-0132210.15388/Amed.2025.32.2.9Rare Run-Over Clinical Case. Evisceration of the Intestines through the WristJekaterina Strelčenko0https://orcid.org/0009-0003-1475-7856Diana Vasiljevaitė1Sigitas Chmieliauskas2https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9104-9835Sigitas Laima3Jurgita Stasiūnienė4https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2501-7602Paulius Petreikis5Vilnius UniversityVilnius UniversityVilnius UniversityVilnius UniversityVilnius UniversityVilnius University Background: Deaths resulting from car-pedestrian collisions are frequently encountered in forensic practice. Such accidents often cause extensive, multi-system injuries, many of which are concealed beneath minimally damaged soft tissues and may not be immediately visible externally. Common external injuries include extensive skin abrasions, subcutaneous hematomas, and lacerations. Internally, these incidents typically result in multiple bone fractures and severe organ ruptures. A less frequent but noteworthy injury is the evisceration of abdominal organs through ruptures in the diaphragm, rectum, or abdominal wall. This report presents a unique case of small intestine evisceration through damaged skin on the wrist.Materials and methods: The literature search was conducted in the PubMed and Google Scholar databases using keywords. The analysis focused on scientific literature that was published in last 10 years but also referred to older scientific papers with strong arguments. To the best of our knowledge, there are no reported cases of evisceration of abdominal contents through the damaged skin of the lower arm (wrist). A clinical case examination from the Lithuanian State Forensic Medicine Service data was performed.Case presentation: A 70-year-old woman was injured in the run-over accident by a truck. The victim died at the scene. External examination revealed multiple injuries, including significant soft tissue deformities in the left arm. During the internal examination of the corpse, multiple fractures with ruptures of internal organs were found. Only isolated fragments of intestinal loops were present in the abdominal cavity. Evisceration of the small intestines through the left upper arm and forearm was found.Conclusions: Run-over accidents involving heavy vehicles are a common cause of fatal injuries. These incidents often result in extensive lacerations, multiple comminated fractures, and severe damage to internal organs. In rare cases, evisceration of internal organs can occur through various anatomical sites. This case demonstrates that evisceration can occur not only through common locations such as the diaphragm, abdominal wall, rectum, or vagina but also through atypical sites, such as the skin of the wrist. In such cases, it is particularly important for a forensic pathologist to assess the damage of clothing and to evaluate the macromorphological appearance of the injuries to determine the mechanism of injury. https://www.journals.vu.lt/AML/article/view/38528run-overvisceral eviscerationmultiple traumasblunt traumaautopsyforensic pathology
spellingShingle Jekaterina Strelčenko
Diana Vasiljevaitė
Sigitas Chmieliauskas
Sigitas Laima
Jurgita Stasiūnienė
Paulius Petreikis
Rare Run-Over Clinical Case. Evisceration of the Intestines through the Wrist
Acta Medica Lituanica
run-over
visceral evisceration
multiple traumas
blunt trauma
autopsy
forensic pathology
title Rare Run-Over Clinical Case. Evisceration of the Intestines through the Wrist
title_full Rare Run-Over Clinical Case. Evisceration of the Intestines through the Wrist
title_fullStr Rare Run-Over Clinical Case. Evisceration of the Intestines through the Wrist
title_full_unstemmed Rare Run-Over Clinical Case. Evisceration of the Intestines through the Wrist
title_short Rare Run-Over Clinical Case. Evisceration of the Intestines through the Wrist
title_sort rare run over clinical case evisceration of the intestines through the wrist
topic run-over
visceral evisceration
multiple traumas
blunt trauma
autopsy
forensic pathology
url https://www.journals.vu.lt/AML/article/view/38528
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