Lesion analysis of forensic autopsies of violent traffic deaths at HOGIP over a two-year period

The violence of road accidents leads to frequent and particularly complex deaths requiring the intervention of forensic medicine.
The objective of this study is to determine, with the help of autopsies, the socio-demographic profile, the exact causes and modes of death of traffic accident victims.
Materials and methods: This is a retrospective study based on data collected from court requisitions, autopsy reports and registers of the General Hospital Idrissa Pouye of Grand Yoff in Dakar from January 1, 2020 to December 31, 2021.
Results: The gender distribution of the present study showed a higher proportion of males (74%) compared to females (26%).
The distribution of traffic fatalities shows 2 peaks, between the age groups of 15-30 years and 31-45 years.  Our study shows that the majority of fatal road traffic accidents occur in rural areas.
In our study, we found varied monthly peaks with virtually the same rates in the months of February, May, June, September and October.
In the present study, polytraumatic injuries were responsible for 35% of the deaths followed by head injuries at 25%, i.e. a total of 60% of deaths.Lesions with neurological complications (14%), infectious complications (11%), internal bleeding (11%) and external bleeding (4%) were responsible for the deaths.         
Conclusion: Traffic accidents, with their exponential number of deaths, constitute a real public health problem. The knowledge of the modes of these accidental deaths and fatal injuries, especially in young people, is possible thanks to the contribution of the medicolegal autopsy.