What is Traumatic asphyxia?

DEFINITION:
1. Traumatic  asphyxia  is defined as a form of asphyxia resulting from trauma of the chest leading to forceful compression of the chest preventing the respiratory movements.
CAUSES:
Various reported causes are
2. Penetrating trauma like stab injury resulting in pneumothorax leading to collapse(atelectasis) of the lungs.
3. Non-penetrating trauma like in run over motor vehicle accident or steering wheel injury on chest or in the collapse of building fixing the chest of the victim.
4. Indirect compression while victim's thigh and knees are drive against the chest resulting in a so-called jam knife position.
5. In a stampede by a crowd, running in panic without any sense, as it happens during outbreak of fire in the movies theatres, temples during festival occasions with lot of people participating in it.
6. Pressure over the chest from unconcerned movements of a normal person in a crowd fixing or arresting the normal chest movements.
CAUSE OF DEATH:
7. Usually due to asphyxia.


AUTOPSY FINDINGS:
8. Findings of asphyxial death are predominantly seen above the level of obstruction to chest, however with the following specific findings:
• Face is congested and livid
• Specific cause producing traumatic asphyxia may not be noticed evidently.
MLI:
9. It is mostly accidental
10. It sometimes will be homicidal, as in burking.
11. Rarely suicidal, when the person himself arranges a heavyweight object to fall above him fixing his chest.