Prolonged Electro‐muscular Incapacitation in a Porcine Model Causes Spinal Injury

• Published in: Journal of forensic sciences Vol. 65; no. 1; pp. 144 - 153
• Main Authors: Burns, Jennie M., Kamykowski, Michael G., Moreno, Justin A., Jirjis, Michael B.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: United States Wiley Subscription Services, Inc 01.01.2020
• Subjects: acceleration; Accelerometers; Animals; autopsy; conducted energy weapon injuries; Conducted Energy Weapon Injuries - diagnostic imaging; Conducted Energy Weapon Injuries - pathology; Electric Stimulation - instrumentation; Forensic Medicine; forensic science; Fractures; Fractures, Comminuted - diagnostic imaging; Fractures, Comminuted - pathology; Humans; Lumbar Vertebrae - diagnostic imaging; Lumbar Vertebrae - injuries; Lumbar Vertebrae - pathology; Models, Animal; muscle contraction; Radiography; Sacrum - diagnostic imaging; Sacrum - injuries; Sacrum - pathology; Spinal cord injuries; spinal fractures; Spinal Fractures - diagnostic imaging; Spinal Fractures - pathology; spinal injuries; Sus scrofa; Swine; X‐rays; swine; acceleration; muscle contraction; spinal injuries; X-rays; forensic science; conducted energy weapon injuries; spinal fractures; Sus scrofa; autopsy
• ISSN: 0022-1198; 1556-4029; 1556-4029
• DOI: 10.1111/1556-4029.14177

Conducted electrical weapons are designed to cause temporary electro‐muscular incapacitation (EMI) without significant injury. The objective of this study was to assess the risk and cause of spinal injury due to exposure to a benchtop EMI device. Porcine subjects were exposed to 19 and 40 Hz electrical stimuli for a prolonged duration of 30 sec. X‐ray imaging, necropsy, and accelerometry found that lumbosacral spinal fractures occurred in at least 89% of all subjects, regardless of the stimulus group, and were likely caused by musculoskeletal fatigue‐related stress in the lumbosacral spine. Spinal fractures occurred in the porcine model at an unusually high rate compared to human. This may be due to both the prolonged duration of electrical stimulation and significant musculoskeletal differences between humans and pigs, which suggests that the porcine model is not a good model of EMI‐induced spinal fracture in humans.