TY  - JOUR
PY  - 2022//
TI  - Medico-legal assessment of acid attack (Vitriolage) injuries in Egypt: fate, outcomes and permanent infirmity
JO  - Legal medicine (Elsevier)
A1  - Shehata, Shaimaa A.
A1  - Abdelrahman, Khadiga M.
A1  - Hagras, Abeer M.
A1  - Kamar, Ayman H.
SP  - e102046
EP  - e102046
VL  - 56
IS  - 
N2  - BACKGROUND: Vitriolage is an aggressive criminal act that results in different degrees of burn injuries and serious health consequences. Vitriolage has been known as a popular method of assault in some developing countries. To our knowledge, this is the first study in Egypt to study the medicolegal aspects of vitriolage crime. <br><br>PURPOSE: The current study was designed to study the pattern of vitriolage injuries and to evaluate the permanent infirmity of vitriolage reported cases in Egypt. <br><br>SUBJECTS AND METHODS: All cases of acid burn medicolegal reports throughout three years from 2015 to 2017 were included. 31 victims were studied as regards the demographic, medico-legal data and permanent infirmity assessment done on the victims. <br><br>RESULTS: The male: female ratio of caustic burn victims was 1:2.9. Females were being assaulted at a higher rate than males. Most of the victims were young working women aged 20-30 years old and most of them lived in urban areas. Regarding the gender of the offenders, 23 were males and 6 were females. Almost 90.3% of the offenders were known to their victims. Most attacks occurred in public 22 cases (70.9%). Revenge was the most mentioned motive for assault (58.1%, n = 18). Ocular damage and dermal disfigurement were the most frequent injuries. <br><br>CONCLUSION: Ensuring efficient implementation of multilevel policies is required to help survivors attain medical, psychological and community support. Legal socio-cultural reform with permanent infirmity evaluation modification is recommended to combat vitriolage.<p />  <p>Language: en</p>
LA  - en
SN  - 1344-6223
UR  - http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.legalmed.2022.102046
ID  - ref1
ER  -