Section of Legal Medicine, Department of Surgical Pathology, Medical, Molecular and Critical Area, University of Pisa, Pisa, Italy.
Department of Anatomical, Histological, Forensic and Orthopaedic Sciences, Sapienza University of Rome, Rome, Italy.
J Forensic Leg Med. 2021 Apr;79:102147. doi: 10.1016/j.jflm.2021.102147. Epub 2021 Feb 27.
In modern times crossbow - a ranged weapon diffused during Middle Ages - is increasing its popularity in recreational hunting and sports; crossbow bolts have a great penetration capacity, despite their low initial velocity. Great concerns emerge when considering that notwithstanding crossbow is a potentially lethal distance weapon, it is easy to obtain without having to undertake any tests on the buyer's mental or physical health. Although rare, crossbow injuries can be challenging for the forensic pathologist due to great similarities with other wounds pattern (gunshots wounds or injury due to sharp force). Especially when the arrow is removed from its original position or the body is decomposed, identification of the weapon can be difficult. According to forensic literature, suicides, homicides and non-lethal injuries by crossbow have been reported up to the present day. We followed the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Review and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) indications in the identification and selection of studies and reviewed a series of cases of both fatal and non-fatal crossbow injuries, according to the manner of death (homicide, suicide, accidental). The casuistic part of this paper deals with an attempted murder of a 21-year old man: a case of non-lethal crossbow injury of the thorax in which an interdisciplinary approach, involving forensic inspection, ballistic and radiology tests, led to solve the case.
在现代，弩 - 一种在中世纪传播的远程武器 - 在娱乐狩猎和运动中越来越受欢迎；弩箭尽管初始速度较低，但具有很强的穿透力。尽管弩是一种潜在的致命远程武器，但很容易获得，而无需对购买者的身心健康进行任何测试，这引起了人们的极大关注。尽管很少见，但由于与其他伤口模式（枪击伤或因锐器造成的伤害）非常相似，弩伤可能对法医病理学家构成挑战。尤其是当箭从原始位置取出或尸体分解时，确定武器可能会很困难。根据法医文献，迄今为止，已有报道称使用弩进行自杀、他杀和非致命伤害。我们按照系统评价和荟萃分析的首选报告项目（PRISMA）的指示，在识别和选择研究方面进行了研究，并根据死亡方式（他杀、自杀、意外）审查了一系列致命和非致命弩伤的案例。本文的案例部分涉及一起 21 岁男子的谋杀未遂案：这是一例胸部非致命弩伤的案例，涉及法医检查、弹道学和放射学测试的跨学科方法，最终解决了此案。
