• C Contargyris and E Peytel.
• Unité de réanimation polyvalente, hôpital d'instruction des armées Laveran, 13, boulevard Alphonse-Laveran, 13013 Marseille, France. contargyris@hotmail.com
• Ann Fr Anesth Reanim. 2012 May 1;31(5):469-71.

AbstractLess lethal weapons, like Flashball, are more and more used since 1995 in law enforcement, even by the local police to neutralize combative individuals and to disperse riot crowds. This gun fires large rubber bullets and has been incriminated many times in cases of face injuries with functional consequences. In this case report, we mention a case of sudden death from cardiac arrest due to low energy chest wall impact of a rubber bullet shot with the Flashball. Commotio cordis is potentialized by a lethal set of three including, a certain impact velocity, an exact location of the hit over the cardiac silhouette, and a precise timing 15 m/s prior to the peak of the T-wave. This case report highlights the fact that such impacts can cause significant injury to internal organs, in particular circonstances, implying the necessity of a raising awareness of the medical staff, in ordre to not underestimate the severity of such injuries.Copyright © 2012 Société française d’anesthésie et de réanimation (Sfar). Published by Elsevier SAS. All rights reserved.

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