Translation from medical latin....

August 19, 2013 2:54 PM

This phrase: "dilaceratio cruris sin Vulcera centusel. multipl." appears on a German birth certificate from the 1940s. Am I right to guess that it means something like "multiple wounds in the leg without ulcers"? If so, what are "ulcers" in this context? Infections?
posted by RandlePatrickMcMurphy to Writing & Language (1 answer total)

I suspect that, rather than meaning leg, cruris may refer to the fornix of the vagina. If this is the case, the note likely refers to the mother and the lacerations to injuries sustained during delivery, a not uncommon occurrence (~4% of vaginal deliveries), and one that is important to document. To this day, postpartum hemorrhage remains the #1 cause of maternal death worldwide and accounts for half of maternal deaths in developing countries. In '47 in the US, mortality from post-partum bleeding exceeded 10%.

But what of these ulcers? I suspect that the physician was concerned about obstetric fistula, which occurs in young women who are in labor for an extended period of time. Basically, the fetus enters the birth canal and exerts pressure on the vaginal tissues, pinning them against either the bladder and the pubic symphysis or the bowel and the spine/sacrum. The pressure exerted cuts off blood supply that, over the course of a few short hours, can cause the tissue to ulcerate and form a communicating tract, or fistula, with either the bladder or the bowel.

I suspect that, because the physician wrote "vulcera centusel" or (loosely, and with the help of William Whitaker's Words) "dirty ulcers," he specifically refers to tearing of the posterior vaginal fornix without evidence of ulceration that would put the mother at risk of obstetric fistula.
posted by The White Hat at 4:54 PM on August 19, 2013