Under The Microscope: THE MECHANICS OF MISSILE INJURY
Though the majority of missile wounds are caused by firearms, other devices such as crossbows, captive-bolt guns, air weapons and even catapults can launch lethal projectiles. In the bombing deaths now so commonly associated with terrorism, missile fragments cause more deaths than the blast effects, so, overall, an understanding of projectile trauma is essential. With the exception of deceleration injuries, all mechanical trauma, whether punching, stabbing or kicking, is caused by the transfer of energy from an external moving object to the tissues and nowhere is this more obvious than in shooting. For damage to occur, some or all of the kinetic energy of the missile has to be absorbed by the target tissues, where it is dissipated as heat, noise and mechanical disruption. When a missile passes completely through soft tissues, it may retain much of its original kinetic energy and fail to transfer any appreciable amount to the tissues, which may remain relatively intact apart fro...