[Self-inflicted injuries by injecting contaminated solutions through the chest wall (author's transl)]

In the case of three prisoners, we observed the results of their attempt to induce an infection of the pleura and lungs by injecting themselves through the chest wall with a contaminated substance in order that they might be transferred to a sanatorium. Traces of the solution they had administered, which among other substances contained faeces, were found in the chest wall, in the pleural and subphrenic area, in the lungs and in the liver. The self-inflicted injuries described, led in the case of one of the prisoners to his death following a subphrenic abscess, a necrosis and abscess of the liver, septic shock and respiratory insufficiency. The clinically recognizable results of the injection only set in after a period of latency of several days. In one case there were still traces of stool in the liver 24 days after its initial introduction.