Pilgrim Jennifer Lucinda, Gerostamoulos Dimitri, Drummer Olaf Heino
Monash University, Australia.
Monash University, Victorian Institute of Forensic Medicine, Australia.
Drug Alcohol Depend. 2014 Feb 1;135:119-32. doi: 10.1016/j.drugalcdep.2013.11.019. Epub 2013 Dec 1.
"King hits" are when a single blow to the head causes a victim to fall to the ground unconscious, either from the punch itself or the impact between the head and the ground. This can result in fatal skull fractures and subdural hematomas. This study aimed to establish the prevalence of king hit deaths in Australia and determine the involvement of drugs in these violent fatalities.
The National Coronial Information System was used to retrieve all cases involving a king hit within Australia between 2000 and 2012.
90 cases were identified with a median age of 33 years (range 15-78). There were 4 females. Most cases occurred in the state of New South Wales (n=28), followed by Victoria and Queensland (24 cases each), at a hotel or pub before 3a.m. Toxicology reports were available in 68 cases. Of these, 53 cases involved the use of alcohol or other drugs (other than those used in hospital treatment). Forty-nine cases (73%) involved the use of alcohol, with a median alcohol concentration of 0.144g/100mL and 0.191g/100mL in ante-mortem and post-mortem specimens, respectively. Illicit drugs were detected in 10 cases of which most involved cannabis. Other pharmaceutical drugs were detected in 3 cases.
Assaults are an ongoing problem in Australia and king hits form a large group of these substance-related and often unprovoked attacks. Importantly, this study indicated that alcohol intoxication increases the risk of victimization, not just aggressive offending. This reiterates the serious consequences of alcohol-fueled violence in Australia.
“重拳一击”是指头部受到单次打击后，受害者因拳击本身或头部与地面的撞击而倒地昏迷。这可能导致致命的颅骨骨折和硬膜下血肿。本研究旨在确定澳大利亚重拳一击致死的发生率，并确定药物在这些暴力致死事件中的作用。
利用国家死因信息系统检索2000年至2012年澳大利亚境内所有涉及重拳一击的案例。
共识别出90例案例，中位年龄为33岁（范围15 - 78岁）。其中有4名女性。大多数案例发生在新南威尔士州（n = 28），其次是维多利亚州和昆士兰州（各24例），案发地点为酒店或酒吧，时间在凌晨3点之前。68例案例有毒理学报告。其中，53例涉及酒精或其他药物的使用（不包括医院治疗中使用的药物）。49例（73%）涉及酒精使用，生前和死后样本中的酒精浓度中位数分别为0.144g/100mL和0.191g/100mL。10例检测出非法药物，其中大多数涉及大麻。3例检测出其他药物。
袭击事件在澳大利亚一直是个问题，重拳一击构成了这类与物质相关且往往无端攻击的很大一部分。重要的是，本研究表明酒精中毒会增加成为受害者的风险，而不仅仅是攻击性犯罪的风险。这再次强调了澳大利亚酒精引发暴力的严重后果。
