Knitted fractures of the laryngopharynx framework as a medico-legal matter

The article presents the analysis of knitted trauma to the hyoid bone and laryngeal cartilages, revealed while searching for fresh fractures of the laryngopharynx skeleton for medico-legal purposes. Neck organocomplexes (n = 440) were completely prepared after fixation in formalin. Old injuries were found in 17.3% of cases, and in 3.2% of cases two elements of the complex were formerly broken. More often there was consolidated trauma to the thyroid (11.4% of cases) and cricoid cartilages (7.3%) and, rarely, to the hyoid bone (1.6%) and cervical part of the trachea (0.2%). These injuries occurred twice as often in men (20.3% of cases) than in women (P < 0.01). Substantiated conclusions are: (1) people of working age are most prone to neck trauma; and (2) from the 1960s the percentage of such traumas in the St. Petersburg region has grown due to urbanization. This article presents data on the localization and morphology of the injuries, as well as a review of symptoms and the course of blunt neck trauma. Despite the difficulties associated with the complete regeneration of injured tissues, forensic pathologists can obtain certain information which police officials may be interested in.