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Operational Obstetrics & Gynecology |
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Sexual Assault |
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Sexual assault is any sexual act performed by one person on another person without that person's consent. This is an act of violence with medical, mental and legal issues which should to be addressed. Described below is a standard medical approach to sexual assault when resources are available and tactical circumstances allow. Should sufficient resources (personnel, equipment, laboratory support) not be available, or the tactical situation disallows full application, these general principles can usually still be followed, although with an abbreviated application.
Assign Staff Member to Remain with PatientFrom the beginning of the patient's interaction with you, a staff member of the same sex and preferably similar rank should be assigned to remain with the patient for the duration of her care until she leaves the medical area. This person's responsibilities are to provide psychological support, explain procedures, and serve as a witness/chaperone. If the patient has serious injuries, take care of the injuries before worrying about collecting legal evidence. Patient care takes priority. Notify Legal and Administrative AuthoritiesEarly in this process, legal and administrative authorities need to be notified that a sexual assault has been reported and medical care is being provided. At sea, this would include both the Officer of the day (deck) and a representative from the NIS or Master-at-arms. Notify the Chaplain In many circumstances, a Chaplain serves the role of a social service provider and should be notified of this occurrence. In other circumstances, other alternatives may be more appropriate. Consent should be obtained from the patient to:
Should consent be withheld, notify higher authorities for a determination whether a non-consensual examination will be ordered. Gather your supplies before starting your exam Before you actually examine the patient and begin collecting your exam specimens, it is best to gather all the materials you will need first. This saves you time and spares the patient the unpleasantness of a prolonged examination. It also helps you avoid forgetting something. If you think you have completed your exam, but you still have some supplies left, you probably forgot about something. In many areas, "Sexual Assault Investigation Kits" are prepared in advance, containing everything needed for this examination. If a pre-packaged kit is not available, you may wish to consider making your own prior to the need for it arising. All specimens should be properly labeled and maintained by precise chain of custody. Every specimen taken from the patient must be properly labeled. The label should include:
It is very helpful to make up your labels before you examine the patient. In addition to labels for all of the specimens, you will need to label lab requisitions, your medical report, and the consent forms. You will need at least 25 labels, not counting any labels used on laboratory requisitions.
Find out from the patient what happened. She will need to be as specific as possible about exactly what was done to her, when, where, by whom, etc. Write down her description of what happened, but remember that you are not in a position to judge whether a rape or sexual assault occurred...you are simply repeating what the patient told you. For example, you might say, "Patient states she was raped today at 4:00 pm by an unknown person in Storage Room #3." You should not say, "The patient was raped at 4:00 pm," because that implies a legal conclusion on your part. You should also not say, "The patient was allegedly raped at 4:00 pm," because this use of the word "allegedly" has been interpreted by some people to imply that you didn't believe that a rape occurred. It is better to simply condense and repeat what the patient told you. Gynecologic History Particularly important are:
If any clothing contains moist or dry stains, remove the clothing, let it dry completely, and place it in a paper bag (not plastic). Use one paper bag for each piece of clothing. Seal each bag and label it. The clothing should be given to the law enforcement authorities and signed out using a chain of custody form. Give the patient a property receipt card for her clothing. Physical Exam Start at the patient's head and work downward, explaining to her what you are doing as you examine her and collect specimens. If you encounter any physical evidence of trauma, you should draw a picture of your findings and, if possible, photograph the evidence. Ask your ship or unit photographer to explain the operation of the camera to you, but you should take the photographs yourself, without the photographer being present, particularly if the trauma involves areas around the breasts or perineum. Lightly comb the patient's hair over a plain white sheet of paper. Fold the paper over the comb and any loose hairs and place everything in an envelope. Seal and label it. Do not pluck hairs from the head to serve as controls. While obtaining plucked hairs is recommended by some law-enforcement agencies, this is a painful and humiliating experience for the patient and almost never makes any difference in the final legal outcome of the case. If the law-enforcement jurisdiction in which you are located later requires plucked hairs, they can ask for them at that time. Using two dry cotton-tipped applicators, gently obtain a specimen from each side of the gums, both right and left, top and bottom. Smear the specimen on a glass slide and let it air-dry. Place the dried glass slide in a cardboard slide holder, label it and seal it. Let the cotton swabs air-dry and then place in an envelope, label it and seal it. Use another dry cotton swab to obtain a specimen for smearing on a chocolate agar plate to test for gonorrhea. Label the plate, discard the swab and send the plate to the laboratory. Ask the patient to place one piece of filter paper in her mouth to become saturated with saliva. She should not chew the filter paper. When saturated, ask her remove it from her mouth with her own fingers and place it in an envelope. Do not touch the filter paper yourself. Let the filter paper air-dry. Then seal it. Carefully inspect the oral cavity, using a tongue blade and flashlight, noting any evidence of trauma. After examining the mouth, offer the patient a toothbrush and toothpaste and mouthwash to rinse her mouth. Particularly if oral contact was involved in the assault, she will feel much better after cleansing her mouth. This will also give her a psychological break in the exam. Neck, Back, Breasts, Abdomen and ArmsInspect and palpate for any evidence of trauma, lacerations, bruises, abrasions, tenderness, etc. Record any significant findings. Collect fingernail scrapings using the wooden toothpicks, one for each hand. The patient may do this herself with you observing. Place the scrapings and the toothpicks in two envelopes, one for the right hand and one for the left hand. Label and seal them. Pubic Hair Combings Lightly comb the pubic hair over a plain white piece of paper. Fold the comb and any loose hairs into the paper, place in an envelope, label and seal it. There may not be any loose hairs. Do not pluck hairs from the pubic area to serve as controls. While obtaining plucked hairs is recommended by some law-enforcement agencies, this is a painful and humiliating experience for the patient and almost never makes any difference in the final legal outcome of the case. If the law-enforcement jurisdiction in which you are located later requires plucked hairs, they can ask for them at that time. Inspect the Vulva Using good light, carefully inspect the vulva for signs of trauma, lacerations, bruises, abrasions, etc. Note the status of the hymen. Application of toluidine blue dye (rinsed with vinegar) can highlight recent trauma. The dye is retained by metabolically active cells.
Visualize the Cervix Using good light, carefully inspect the vulva for signs of trauma, lacerations, bruises, abrasions, etc. Note the status of the hymen. After moistening the vaginal speculum with warm water, insert it into the vagina and inspect the vagina and cervix for signs of trauma. Vaginal Swab Using two dry cotton-tipped applicators, swab the vaginal walls and posterior fornix (area beneath the cervix). Smear this specimen on a glass slide, allow it to air-dry and place it in a cardboard slide holder. Label and seal the slide holder. Let the cotton swabs air-dry and then place them in an envelope. Label and seal the envelope. Do not try to examine the vaginal or cervical specimens for motile sperm unless you are experienced in this technique. Forensic pathologists will examine the dried slides and their skills are considerable. You may jeopardize later legal proceedings if you inartfully look for motile sperm and reach conclusions which are different than those of the forensic pathologist. From this perspective, it is better to leave the microscopic examinations to the experts unless you have experience and training in this area. Chlamydia Culture Use your chlamydia test kit to obtain a cervical specimen. Gonorrhea Culture Use a dry cotton swab and chocolate agar plate or other suitable technique to obtain a specimen from the endocervical canal. Label the plate and send it to your laboratory.
In the case of rectal assault, inspect carefully for tears or breaks in the skin of the rectum. Toluidine Blue dye can be helpful. An anoscope can be used to inspect the lower rectum. Use two cotton-tipped applicators, moistened with distilled water, to obtain a specimen from just inside the rectal sphincter. Smear this specimen on a glass slide, allow it to air-dry and place it in a cardboard slide holder. Label and seal the slide holder. Let the cotton swabs air-dry and then place them in an envelope. Label and seal the envelope. Use another moistened cotton-tipped applicator and a chocolate agar plate to test your patient for gonorrhea. Send this specimen to your lab. Bimanual Exam After collecting all specimens, perform a bimanual exam. Using the lubricating jelly, palpate each of the pelvic structures, noting any enlargement or tenderness. Betadine Douche Once the pelvic examination is completed, a cleansing douche of Betadine mixed in water will generally be appreciated by the patient. 50 to 100 cc of solution can be used to rinse the vagina, using a 30 or 50 cc syringe. Collect the rinse in the emesis basin and discard. Let the patient shower and change clothes This is very important for her psychological health. Usually, there are no major physical injuries after a sexual assault, but the psychological injuries can be great. A part of your treatment will be to reassure her that she's "OK" and to assist her in the cleansing process (physical and mental). Once the specimens are collected, she should be given the opportunity to shower and change clothes, in a sense "washing away" some of the unpleasantness of her recent experience. Some women will decline, preferring to shower later, but many will appreciate the offer and will feel better afterward.
The risk of acquiring gonorrhea from a sexual assault is approximately 6 to 12% (CDC), and the risk of acquiring chlamydia probably a little higher. The risk of acquiring syphilis is estimated at about 3%. The risk of developing AIDS from a sexual assault cannot be precisely estimated as it depends on too many factors but is considered to be quite low. Read more about risk of acquiring HIV following sexual assault
Postexposure hepatitis B vaccination (without HBIG) should adequately protect against HBV. Hepatitis B vaccine should be administered to victims of sexual assault at the time of the initial examination. Follow-up doses of vaccine should be administered 1-2 and 4-6 months after the first dose. For those known to have completed a full HBV vaccination program, additional Hepatitis B vaccine need not be given. The exact risk of pregnancy following a sexual assault is estimated at about 2-4%, but depends to a large extent on where the woman was in her menstrual cycle and, of course, whether she was protected by some contraceptive method. Taking 2 medium-strength BCPs (Ovral) right away and again 12 hours later has been used successfully by many physicians to prevent pregnancy. Alternatively, 4 LoOvral can be taken immediately and again 12 hours later. Such a dosage is well-tolerated by most women, but half will experience nausea which might require anti-nausea medication. After using this protocol, the woman's normal menstrual cycle should not be disturbed and she will not have any withdrawal bleeding after she completes this 4-pill regimen. This method reduces the risk of pregnancy by 75%. It's exact mechanism of action is not known but may involve postponing ovulation and may involve prevention of implantation. Should a pregnancy occur despite the use of emergency contraception there is no convincing evidence of any harm to the fetus, although theoretical concerns will likely always be present. You need to advise your patient of these issues, and let her decide whether she wishes to take emergency contraception.. Whatever her decision, you should document in the medical record your discussion and her decision.
About 2 weeks after the assault, the patient should be re-examined for any lingering injury and also to provide reassurance that at least physically, everything is totally back to normal. At this time, she will have had a menstrual flow (typically), and she can have her follow-up labs (HIV, VDRL, Hep B) done at the same time. This will also allow you an opportunity to see how she is dealing with the psychological issues related to the assault. Ideally, serologic tests for syphilis and HIV infection should be repeated 6, 12, and 24 weeks after the assault if initial test results were negative For psychological reasons, some women may need to be seen earlier than 2 weeks to reassess their adaptation to this trauma. Release from Medical Department After the patient has been examined and treated and all specimens collected, she may be released. She should not be released alone, but rather in the company of someone she knows and trusts. It is important that she feels she is going to a safe place. Write your Report Make this factual, but it need not be lengthy. Do not draw legal conclusions about whether a sexual assault occurred or did not occur. That is for the courts to decide. Using a proper Chain-of-custody form, sign over the evidence to the MAA or other NIS representative, consisting of:
Give specimens to your lab The laboratory specimens which you obtained for patient care reasons should go to your laboratory, but may be handled in the routine fashion and not following a Chain-of-Custody procedure. They will consist of:
Give prescriptions and Instructions to patient The patient should have everything she needs to get her follow-up medications. In addition, she should have written instructions on where to be and for what purpose:
The special case of children Children who are victims of sexual assault need special attention and may require some modifications of the general outline. Small children may not have an appreciation of exactly what happened to them, or may be unable to express themselves. Some experienced examiners will have the child use dolls to demonstrate what happened. During sexual assault of a prepubertal child, serious internal injuries may occur, including laceration of the vaginal wall and tearing of the uterus from its' supports at the top of the vagina. Rectal injury may occur. Because of this, it may be necessary to obtain other tests (upright abdomen looking for free air in the abdomen), or to examine a child under anesthesia to determine the extent of the injuries. Intra-abdominal injuries promptly diagnosed and treated will usually have an excellent prognosis. The same injuries diagnosed after peritonitis has become well-established are more grave.
Home · Introduction · Medical Support of Women in Field Environments · The Prisoner of War Experience · Routine Care · Pap Smears · Human Papilloma Virus · Contraception · Birth Control Pills · Vulvar Disease · Vaginal Discharge · Abnormal Bleeding · Menstrual Problems · Abdominal Pain · Urination Problems · Menopause · Breast Problems · Sexual Assault · Normal Pregnancy · Abnormal Pregnancy · Normal Labor and Delivery · Problems During Labor and Delivery · Care of the Newborn
This web version of Operational Obstetrics & Gynecology is provided by The Brookside Associates Medical Education Division. It contains original contents from the official US Navy NAVMEDPUB 6300-2C, but has been reformatted for web access and includes advertising and links that were not present in the original version. This web version has not been approved by the Department of the Navy or the Department of Defense. The presence of any advertising on these pages does not constitute an endorsement of that product or service by either the Department of Defense or the Brookside Associates. The Brookside Associates is a private organization, not affiliated with the United States Department of Defense. All material in this version is unclassified. This formatting © 2006
Medical Education Division,
Brookside Associates, Ltd.
*These videos are an added feature, provided by the Brookside Associates Medical Education Division. They were not present in the original edition.
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