Wound Ballistics

Wound Ballistics

Introduction

The study of the flight of objects through the air is an ancient discipline. Military men have had a formal, but unscientific, interest in ballistics for centuries, using their knowledge of the trajectories of projectiles to inflict injury on their adversaries. The formal study of ballistics as science developed in the late 19th century largely as a result of the standardization of bullets and the development of high-speed photography (Swan & Reiner, 1987).

Today, ballistics is studied by surgeons, soldiers, law enforcement personnel and weapons manufacturers, albeit for different reasons. Soldiers use computerized algorithms and radar, such as the AN/TPQ-37 Radar, to plot artillery barrages and even to back-plot the trajectory of incoming artillery shells, and thereby direct counter-battery fire to those locations. Law enforcement agencies are often concerned with finding ordnance that will offer a high probability of rapidly disabling the subject, without endangering innocent bystanders. These groups often focus on the “knockdown power” of a weapon. Weapons manufacturers are constantly seeking ways to maximize stopping power, while minimizing

Recoil (Swan & Reiner, 1987).

Discussion Analysis

Surgeons approach the study of ballistics from a much different point of view. In these times, when civilians are increasingly the targets of violence, often from ballistic weapons, we are more likely than not to encounter the end result of the projectile's finding its target. By understanding the factors that affect a projectile in flight, and the effect that those projectiles have on human tissues, the surgeon is better able to assess accurately the wounds caused by them. It is important neither to under-treat nor to over-treat ballistic injuries. Under-treatment may result in rhabdomyolosis, or infection, including gas gangrene, while over-treatment may result in needless amputation, or over-zealous debridement. There is an art to the assessment of tissues and their debridement that is learned largely through experience. This paper reviews the fundamentals of ballistics, and the associated article will discuss the principles of treatment of ballistic injuries. The flight of a projectile is divided into three phases (Swan & Swan. 1991).

Firstly, internal ballistics refers to the effects of bullet design, weapon design, and materials on the projectile within the barrel of the weapon.

External ballistics examines the effect of wind, velocity, drag and gravity on the projectile in flight from the barrel to the target.

The study of the behaviour of the projectile in tissue is referred to as terminal ballistics. In military terminology, a round is a combination of a bullet, or projectile, and the propellant, together with the casing (cartridge) that contains them. The projectile may be designed to explode, or to release sub munitions, such as mines or gas. There is an optimal rate at which gunpowder burns and expands. If the powder does not have the time and the surface area to burn completely, it will increase fouling of the barrel without adding energy to the bullet (Santucci & Chang. 2004). As the bullet travels downs the barrel, the volume occupied by the gas increases. In accordance with the Ideal Gas Law, ...