Decapitation of an agricultural worker by a combine harvester. A case report

Background. Each year, there are billions of agricultural workaccidents involving the operation of tractors, grain augers, harvestcombines, power take-off devices, or balers and thrashers. Field accidents of this nature seem more common on afternoons, just as roadaccidents tend to skew toward nighttime. The lesions can vary widelyand depends strictly on the operation of the machinery analyzed.Aims. This paper aims to present a peculiar case of decapitationby a combine harvester, showing how, in cases of injury due to agricultural machinery, it is fundamental a correct execution of a sceneinvestigation, autoptic examination, and cooperation with a specialistin engineering.Case Report. A 54-year-old man was found decapitated on theheader of a combine harvester; his extremities were also dismembered.At autopsy, a clean oblique cut across the first cervical vertebra hadsevered the head at the neck. Although the right arm remained intact,both lower extremities were mutilated, showing numerous exposedand open fractures. A bleeding, penetrating wound to the back wasadditionally noted. In the days that followed, missing parts (head andleft leg) were discovered in other machine components (grain tankand straw walker, respectively). All observed injuries were compatiblewith the mechanics of the cochlea, its rotating movement inflicting thedamages above. Collaboration between pathologists and engineerswas fundamental to recreating the dynamics of this rare decapitationaccident by a combine harvester.