Legal aspects in nasal fractures

A criminal act is involved in a high percentage of cases of nasal fracture, and exact medical information describing the damages found is mandatory for the criminal court. It is necessary, that the medical information are obtained from the ENT-department, where the patient is treated, as the information obtained from the casualty department has a too low degree of truth in the establishment of the diagnosis. The statement should include information on the treatment given, as linear fractures in good position requiring no treatment may be classified legally as an offence against the person rather than as a bodily harm. X-ray examination of the nose in cases of nasal fracture gives a much too high number of false positive and false negative results to have any legal value, and, having no medical value as well, they should not be taken unless for scientific purposes.