title: Rare and Severe Maxillofacial Injury Due to Tear Gas Capsules: Report of Three Cases.
abstract: Tear gases are used by police or armed forces for control of riots or social events or by the general population for private self-defense. These agents are used widely throughout the world, but some harmful effects have reported. In addition, despite well-defined chemical side effects documented in the literature, data are insufficient regarding mechanical injury due to tear gas capsules. We report three cases of severe maxillofacial injury in patients who had these capsules fired from tear gas guns directly to their faces. The capsules penetrated the patients' faces, causing potentially fatal injuries. To our knowledge, reports of this kind of injury related to tear gas capsules are very rare in the literature. In conclusion, tear gas guns may be very dangerous in terms of human health and they may cause severe injuries, especially when they are not used according to strict guidelines.
authors.affiliation: Department of Emergency Medicine, Keçiören Training and Research Hospital, Keçiören-Ankara, 06000, Turkey.
authors.forename: Şeref Kerem
authors.initials: ŞK
authors.lastname: Çorbacɩoğlu
authors.affiliation: Department of Emergency Medicine, Ankara Training and Research Hospital, Mamak-Ankara, 06000, Turkey.
authors.forename: Sertaç
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Güler
authors.affiliation: Department of Emergency Medicine, Antakya State Hospital, Hatay-Antakya, 31000, Turkey.
authors.forename: Erhan
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Er
authors.affiliation: Department of Emergency Medicine, Antakya State Hospital, Hatay-Antakya, 31000, Turkey.
authors.forename: Meltem
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Seviner
authors.affiliation: Department of Emergency Medicine, Antakya State Hospital, Hatay-Antakya, 31000, Turkey.
authors.forename: Şahin
authors.initials: Ş
authors.lastname: Aslan
authors.affiliation: Department of Emergency Medicine, Ümraniye Training and Research Hospital, Ümraniye-İstanbul, 34760, Turkey.
authors.forename: Gökhan
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Aksel
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D005151:Facial Injuries / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000209:etiology*; D005547:Foreign Bodies / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000473:pathology* / Q000601:surgery*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008437:Maxilla / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000293:injuries*; D013665:Tear Gases / Q000009:adverse effects*; D014857:Warfare
chemical_list: D013665:Tear Gases
keywords: forensic science; gunshot; head trauma; pepper gas; riot; social event; tear gas