Penetrating eye injury by dart

Abstract

Darts are constantly gaining in popularity. However, their risk of injury is often underestimated. This report is about a juvenile who suffered from a severe eye injury including the opening of the eye bulb. The attending ophthalmologists ruled out the possibility that this kind of injury could be caused by a dart with a plastic point. However, by reconstructing the course of action and throwing darts at porcine eyes, the forensic medical advisory opinion was able to state that darts with damaged plastic points may cause the exact same form of injury. This casuistic illustrates the essential significance of forensic-traumatological knowledge and, especially in the case of rare injury patterns, case-related practical experiments.