Data were retrospective gathered from reports to the court during a 6-years period,
from August 2006 to August 2012,
in the Sant’Andrea Hospital emergency ward,
Rome.
We identified 200 female patients subjected to IPV,
which have been assaulted by their partner,
ex-partner or blood relative.
IPV condition was diagnosed basing on history and clinical examination performed by emergency physician,
psychiatrist or gynaecologist in the emergency department.
We evaluated relevant data regarding age,
nationality,
severity code,
cause of injury,
site of injury and other associated conditions were also available from the medical report.
We also evaluated the time between violence and the radiological examinations (> 24h or <24h) and the presence of discrepancies between the story reported at the triage and the one reported in the ED to the medical doctors.
We called this "dissociation between histories" and regards for example the circumstances of the injuries or the identity of the aggressor.
The patient reporting an “accidental trauma” or “violence by unkwnoun” to nurse triage but reveals an intimate partner violence to phisician was considered as a patient with a “dissociation between history”.
Radiological investigations were carried out in the form of plain radiographs,
computed tomography scans and sonography.
Images were observed by a radiological team with at least 15 years of emergency radiology experience.
Subsequently,
selected cases reviewed by two radiologist that didn’t know the anamnesis of the patients.
We evaluated the common pattern of IPV injuries in the patient with positive radiological founds: new fractures,
consolidated fractures,
hemosinus or facial bone injuries(Fig.1),
long bone fracture (Fig.2),
rib fracture (Fig.3),
soft tissue swelling(>25% of adjacent tissue) (Fig.4),
spinal distraction (Fig.5),
splancnic contusion or laceration or free fluid in abdomen (Fig.6).
We selected age,
nationality and gravity code-matched 200 patients of the 4875 remaining and we distinguished a control group of patients subjected to violence by strangers (extra-familiar violence) where we included all women aged between 18 and 75 years assaulted by strangers,
were excluded all patients subjected to rape related violence,
patients attacked by several people,
animals,
known people,
people of the same sex,
and patients undergone verbal violence,
bullying and relatives.
We found 122 IPV and 124 assault group patients who carried out radiological investigations.