[Biomechanical and clinical interpretation of firearm wounds. General problems. VII. Propedeutic ABC of terminal ballistics]. / Lettura biomeccanico-clinica della ferita d'arma da fuoco. Problematica generale (Parte VII). Abbecedario di propedeutica alla balistica terminale.

The parallelism breaks down, and the bullet, which is now the subject, speeds towards the object, the body, its target. The ideal vantage point for capturing the moment of impact is the nose. We set up our station here, imaging that were are a kind of TV camera recording with cold objectivity, in slow motion, instant by instant, the marks and the impact made by the hard body on its soft target.

[Terminal ballistics. 1]. / Balistica terminale. 1a parte.

We have chosen to conceive of terminal ballistics as a violent and extremely rapid confrontation between two forms of resistance before the final state of rest is reached. This definition, which cannot help but don the admittedly loud and outlandish garb of physics, is the most promising for the purposes of biological interpretation. The main characters on this stage are two, but only one of these really plays the lead, namely the human target, which acts out the basic roles inherent in its physical make-up; the other, the bullet, remains a background figure, frozen in its walk-on part, and ready for the next performance. This modus operandi, which is no simplification, but rather an academic necessity, enables us to focus on images which stand out more clearly as a result of an intensive macroscopic spotlight which brings out the features of the individual phenomena, broken down into a succession of close-ups, and subtracts them from the cold physical nature of this or that form of inert matter, which here is merely an occasional, disagreeable witness, or even more, a standing from time to time for but one of the infinite facets of the biological composite being. Here, then, faced with a kind of exploded macrophotograph of a complex kaleidoscope, we see the animal universe, of which we capture so far the plasticity, the subdivisibility, the anisotropy and the cavitation.

[Terminal ballistics. 3]. / Balistica terminale. 3a parte.

This brief chapter, focusing essentially on a single topic, has been written in homage to Emile Theodor Kocker, a masterful exponent of the art of surgery and founder of the culture of terminal ballistics. For most of the literature we are indebted to Fackler and Dougherty, who, with the particular grasp, and fair of historians, act as guides on a trial which is only apparently retrograde, but which actually bears eloquent witness to the fact that even in the most physically tangible of arts, namely the art of surgery, inspired curiosity may help us to go well beyond the limits of our day and age. This chapter is also dedicated to the memory of another great surgeon, Vittorio Pettinari, who for one of the authors was an incomparable mentor and past-master of such curiosity.

[Biomechanical-clinical interpretation of firearm wounds. General problems. XI. Propedeutic ABC of terminal ballistics]. / Lettura biomeccanico-clinica della ferita d'arma da fuoco. Problematica generale (Parte XI). Abbecedario di propedeutica alla balistica terminale.

The pathogenetic potentiality of firearms differs in relation to whether we are dealing with rifled long-barrelled weapons, handguns, or smooth-bore long-barrelled guns. Up until a few years ago, the tissue-damaging effect, at least in the modern warfare context, of short-barrelled or smooth-bore long-barrelled firearms, was thoroughly negligible; today, however, their impact, as causes of wounds and death, is steadily increasing, and for the first time small bullets designed for low-cost military training are also coming to play a primary role on the battlefield. At the same time short-gun bullets are appearing which, which in the name of "stopping power" seem to contradict the very definition of a handgun. The smooth-bore long-barrelled gun, in turn, is casting off the anti-humanitarian image of the trench gun to play the more suggestive ordinance role of the grenadiercumhunter.

[Propedeutic to general problems of the hypothesis of a new "open" interpretation of firearm wounds of soft tissues]. / Propedeutica alla problematica generale sulla ipotesi di nuova lettura "aperta" della ferita d'arma da fuoco delle parti molli.

On the basis of a review of the literature and their own personal knowledge and experience, the authors define the state of the art regarding a point of considerable importance, namely the leaky gut hypothesis. Taking gunshot wounds in soft tissues as their starting point, they believe that such lesions are among the most suitable for illustrating the chain of events which translates an entirely local pathology--admittedly serious--into a systemic pathology carrying a very severe prognosis, if the physician is unable to interrupt this clinical course.

[Terminal ballistics. 2. (The skin)]. / Balistica terminale. 2a parte (la cute).

It goes without saying that, at first glance, it is the velocity with which the fired bullet pierces the solid target and perhaps even penetrates it that bears witness to the efficiency of a firearm. Prior to the advent of ceramic and composite materials, iron and its clone, steel, provided the most satisfactory and most coveted evidence as a test material in both the positive and negative senses. It the biological field, wood and deal in particular were for decades the only witnesses, alongside tests in cadavers, which, despite obvious reservations, provided us with a wealth of data, much of which is still regarded today as among the mainstays of forensic didactics. Prominent among these, in terms of clinical importance, in that they mark the start of the bullet wound, are the velocity and energy thresholds per presentation area. The bullet, after overcoming the barrier of the skin, continues on its course through the soft tissues, and there leaves its most authentic and singular mark as a bullet wound.

[Biomechanical and clinical interpretation of firearm wounds. General problems. VI. Propedeutic ABC of terminal ballistics]. / Lettura biomeccanico-clinica della ferita d'arma da fuoco. Problematica generale (Parte VI). Abbecedario di propedeutica alla balistica terminale.

Any lengthy and properly structured propedeutic ABC of terminal ballistics must necessarily embrace a comparison between the two main protagonists of gunshot wounds. It is almost a specular, yet distorted image of the ritual act consumed by the larger mammals, not proud of their mutual aggression, but the conformation between mechanics and biology, or between kilogram-metres and life. The two types of physical entity brought together through the unique agency of a new language--both biological and mechanical, but necessarily halting and inadequate--stand out like two parallel lines opposite one another, displaying their respective profiles and most intimate structures. One can take this as far as the biological paradox of the clash between the dimension of power and the chance quality of life.

[Biomechanical and clinical interpretation of firearm wounds. General problems. V. The propaedeutic ABC of terminal ballistics]. / Lettura biomeccanico-clinica della ferita d'arma da fuoco. Problematica Generale (Parte V). Abbecedario di propedeutica alla balistica terminale.

Modern portable firearms, whether for military or civilian use, present substantially different features as instruments for striking, wounding and killing compared to those used in the past on account both of their intrinsic characteristics as thermo-chemico-ballistic machines, guaranteeing extra, more easily achievable performance and of the characteristics of the bullets used. The factors responsible for this difference, which consists essentially in an unprecedented wounding capability, are, in the military field, the enormous amount of research which only now is beginning to yield a bare minimum of concrete results in terms of futuristic forms and devastating performance, amongst other things because it is easier to achieve, and, in the "civilian" field, the maniacal search for an unlikely definitive wound, based on the unusual nature of the cartridge and on sophisticated training.