Rifle—Plate 15.
UPPER EXTREMITY.
Gunshot Fracture of the External Condyle of the Left Humerus,
with Lodgment of the Missile.
Wound or entrance, internal and posterior aspect of the arm above the internal condyle.
Wound of exit, none.
The bullet was greatly deformed by ricochet, with the loss of the greater part or all of its jacket.
The line of contact of the unprotected lead with the bone is marked by the same small fragments of lead almost invariably seen in shrapnel wounds. The ballistic conditions in this case are quite similar to those of a shrapnel wound, as the projectile has struck the bone with low velocity. The very slight displacement of a single large fragment from which the missile is slightly withdrawn indicates that the striking energy was relatively low and that the elastic tissues, stretching around the missile at its striking point, contracted after its energy had been expended and then withdrew the missile from its farthest point of advance.
The treatment in such cases warrants only the interference suggested by infection and the interference of the missile with function.
The results expected are most favorable.
Plate 16.
