Suicidal shot in the mouth with rubber bullets.

Rubber bullets weapons can have tragic consequences when used at short range and on vulnerable body areas. A man in his forties was found deceased at his house, covered in blood. A "non-lethal" firearm was found near the bed: the «SAPL GC27¼. This is a single shot handgun with mini Gomm Cogne ammunition: 12 rubber spherical pellets, 7.4 mm in diameter. The findings were consistent with an intra buccal shot, and an ingestion-inhalation of blood and projectiles. Cause of the death was linked to both the hemorrhage due to mouth and aero digestive crossroad trauma, responsible of a mechanical asphyxia, and blood absorption in lungs. This case insists on the deadly potential of this weapon if misused. Fortunately, the term "non-lethal" has been progressively replaced, but sometimes still can be seen, especially in gunsmith and webstores. It should be deleted to avoid confusion among inexperienced people, and at best, this weapon should be restricted to certain professions.

Diagnosis of an inguinal hernia after a blunt inguinal trauma with an intestinal perforation.

Introduction. Inguinal hernias are very common in men. A clinical exam can do the diagnosis easily. But bowel perforation inside an inguinal hernia caused by a directly blunt trauma is rare and can have important consequences. Up to now, there have been a few case reports that described blunt injury to the inguinal area causing traumatic perforation of the bowel in the inguinal hernia. Case Report. We present a case of a 45-year-old Eastern European man with a small perforation of ileal bowels and a peritonitis after direct blunt trauma to the inguinal hernia region, with no inguinal hernia known by the patient, and show how the diagnosis can be difficult. Conclusion. This case shows that external forces, that may seem too trivial to cause intraperitoneal injury, can cause significant injury when applied to a patient with a hernia and shows how a careful examination, with the help of an abdominal CT scan, is important even if the patient do not seem to have an inguinal hernia.