Gunshot Roentgenograms / A Collection of Roentgenograms Taken in Constantinople During the Turko-Balkan War, 1912-1913, Illustrating Some Gunshot Wounds in the Turkish Army

by Clyde S. Ford

SPINAL REGION.
Gunshot Wound of the Spinal Region, with Lodgment of the Missile.

The bullet was either dum-dummed or unjacketed because its soft nose mushroomed, striking the crest of the ilium, penetrated the lumbar muscles, and struck the side body of the third lumbar vertebra without producing fracture.

The exposure, as the spinous processes show, was made with the spine next to the plate, and the slight shadow, somewhat larger than the projectile—to judge the size from the undeformed diameter—shows it to be anterior to the vertebra. The shadow is deep enough to indicate the location fairly near to the plate, and, almost certainly, not in the abdominal cavity, where the distance from the plate would have made the shadow less dense and the movement of respiration probably would have given it a blurred outline. The shadow of the localizing cross gives a standard of density to be compared with the shadow of the projectile in making the estimation.

The treatment is conservative; only pain, paralysis, impaired function, or sepsis indicate interference.

UPPER EXTREMITY.

Plate 8.

Rifle—Plate 8.

UPPER EXTREMITY.
Compound Fracture of the Humerus in Advanced State of Repair with Callus Formation.