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Manhandling injuries during legal interventions

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European Journal of Trauma and Emergency Surgery Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Introduction

Data concerning injuries resulting from physical force during legal interventions are scarce. The purpose of this study was to examine manhandling injuries occurring in both civilian suspects and law enforcement officials (LEO).

Methods

Retrospective cross-sectional study using data from the National Trauma Data Bank. All patients who sustained manhandling injuries during legal interventions were identified using ICD-10 e-codes. The study groups were injured civilian suspects and LEO. The primary outcomes were type and severity of injuries among the groups.

Results

A total of 507 patients were included in the study, 426 (84.0%) civilians and 81 (16.0%) LEO. Overall, median age was 37 years (IQR: 28–48) and 90.3% were male. The median ISS was higher in civilians compared to LEO (5 [4–10] vs 4 [4–9], p = 0.023). Civilians were more likely to sustain injuries to the face (49.8% vs 35.9%, p = 0.024) and abdomen (8.3% vs 1.3%, p = 0.028). LEO were more likely to sustain tibia/fibula fractures (3.5% vs 9.9%, p = 0.019). The mortality was 1.2% (5/426) in civilians and there were no deaths in LEO. The overall complication rates and hospital length of stay were similar between the groups.

Conclusion

Injury patterns and severity of injuries sustained from the use of physical force during legal interventions are different in civilians and law enforcement officials. Further research and more comprehensive data are warranted to better understand and prevent these injuries.

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Data availability

The data used in this study were obtained from the National Trauma Data Bank which is maintained by the American College of Surgeons Committee on Trauma. To gain access to NTDB data, researchers must submit requests through the American College of Surgeons’ online application process. Further information is available at the website of the American College of Surgeons.

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Funding

This research did not receive any specific grant from funding agencies in the public, commercial, or not-for-profit sectors.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Division of Trauma and Surgical Critical Care, Department of Surgery, Los Angeles County and University of Southern California Medical Center, University of Southern California, 2051 Marengo Street, IPT, C5L 100, Los Angeles, CA, 90033, USA

    Panagiotis Liasidis, Meghan Lewis, Dominik A. Jakob, Kenji Inaba & Demetrios Demetriades

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  1. Panagiotis Liasidis
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  2. Meghan Lewis
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  3. Dominik A. Jakob
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  4. Kenji Inaba
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Contributions

PL and DD designed the study. PL and DAJ performed the literature search and data collection. PL performed the data analysis. All authors contributed to the interpretation of the data, writing of the manuscript, and approved the final version of the manuscript. DD supervised all aspects of study design, data acquisition, analyses, and manuscript writing.

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Demetrios Demetriades.

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Conflict of interest

All authors declare no potential conflict of interest.

Ethics approval

This study was performed in line with the principles of the 1964 Declaration of Helsinki and its later amendments. The National Trauma Data Bank contains de-identified data and a waiver of informed consent was obtained. The present study was approved by the Institutional Review Board of the University of Southern California.

Statement of human rights

The study was approved by the Institutional Review Board of the University of Southern California

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Liasidis, P., Lewis, M., Jakob, D.A. et al. Manhandling injuries during legal interventions. Eur J Trauma Emerg Surg 49, 1577–1585 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00068-023-02241-9

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00068-023-02241-9

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