ABSTRACT
This chapter illustrates a range of the variation in skeletal trauma that results from gunfire injuries and describes general patterns that summarize the types of defects or fractures that result. Anatomically, the scapula is a complex structure that is comprised of a thick, irregular mass of trabecular bone as well as the thin, flat compact bone of the body and spinous process. The lateral margin or border of the scapular body is a transitional area where bone is thicker and consists of trabeculae. Injuries along the border are more similar to wounds of the ribs and sternum than to the scapular body. The chapter analyses a case in which a single gunfire injury was sustained by an adult, where the bullet entered the shoulder, penetrated and shattered the proximal humerus, penetrated the first and second intercostal space, through the midthoracic spine at the costovertebral articulation, and perforated the thorax.
