Veterinary Forensics Year 2 Pop Block 2

What to include on exam or necropsy notes?

• identify and document all disease, injury, and abnormalities even if you think it is insignificant or unrelated to primary concerns

• describe any disease, injury, abnormality (severity, chronicity, measure size)

• describe signs of pain or discomfort associated with disease or injury

• document normal findings, when relevant! if not documented you can’t confirm it was normal

• describe behaviors, attitudes, and responses

When should documentation begin for forensic medical exam?

• immediately!

• within first 24hours if possible

  • if not have someone else document initial findings

• evidence can be transient and will change quickly, especially with treatment

What should you do after documentation?

• collect and preserve physical evidence

  • if it can mold put in paper instead of plastic

  • collect samples, don’t have to send them out immediately

Forensic Medical Exam practices

• be descriptive and objective

  • vet terms fine in medical record, but summary reports should be written for public

• measure things that can be quantified

• when available, use standardized scales to reduce subjectivity (BCS, pain scores, dehydration score)

• in addition to primary findings describe secondary supportive issues that are present

blunt force trauma

• non-penetrating impact to body

• blunt instruments

  • hand, hammer, car, earth

• motor vehicle accidents seen commonly

• difficult to distinguish accidental from non accidental

contusion

• bruise

• hemorrhage from ruptured blood vessels

• form over minutes to hours

  • superficial bruises may be seen very quickly, minutes

  • deep bruises may take up to 2 days to work up to surface

  • bruises can continue to expand for several hours

    • up to 48 hrs for lung contusions

• animal skin is less vascularized than human skin, so it takes greater force to create visible bruise

What can contusions tell you?

• early bruises more likely to show pattern that can be linked to blunt object

• early bruises more likely to show site of impact

• can use a marker to trace outline of bruise to document change over time

• in high velocity impact, blood is pushed outward and vessels around perimeter rupture

  • leaves rim of petechiae outlining implement

• patterns can tell us what object was

  • repeating shapes

  • same spacing

  • similar size

postmortem livor mortis vs bruise

• lividity apparent within 30min to 2hrs postmortem and becomes more prominent over time

• after 8-12hrs lividity becomes fixed

• blood remains in vessels (will ooze when cut)

• if area of livor mortis is pressed it will blanch white and color will return when released

communication strategies when abuse or neglect case suspected

• ask open-ended questions so client is prompted to tell their own story

• pause and be silent

  • allow time for client to answer questions

• practice reflective listening

  • repeat and confirm what you heard client say to make sure you have accurate information

• for key details ask questions a couple of times in different ways and note whether responses are consistent

• keep your nonverbal communication neutral

history questions when abuse or neglect case suspected

• did you or anyone else see what happened

• what efforts were made to treat

• try to establish a timeline

• identify potential suspects

fractures

• transverse = perpendicular

• oblique = compression

• spiral = rotational force

• butterfly = point of v indicates directionality

abrasions

HBV will result in bunching over stifle (sock) and not too much bruising

ligature

something tight placed on animal that injures animal

laceration

• blunt force trauma

• tearing of tissue, not cutting of tissue

• caused by crushing or shearing force

• margins of skin lacerations tend to be bruised, abraded, and irregular

• pattern may mirror the object

• sometimes leave bridges of tissue that are not seen in cut

• absence of tissue bridging does not rule out laceration

motor vehicle collisions

• severity depends on speed, location of impact, type of hit, and secondary impacts

• abrasions common (lateral on down side and medial on up side)

• frayed nails

• dirt/debris on fur and embedded in wounds

• contusions vary with speed and impact site

• fractures

Red flags for non accidental injury vs vehicle collision

• fractures in various stages of healing

• multiple fractures

• affect multiple anatomic regions

• skull and tooth fractures

• bilateral rib fractures

sharp force trauma

• piercing of skin or tissues with a pointed or sharp object

• cleanly divided margins

• margins and angles of wound can provide information about weapon used

stab wound

• force is directed along long axis of weapon, into body

• typically narrow or pointed object

  • knife, dagger, arrow, screw driver

  • single edged knife is most common

• margins are regular and clean, usually no abrasions or bruising

  • no tissue bridging

single edged weapon

• triangular and wedge shaped

• one end pointed

• other end blunt, squared off or rounded

• blunt end may have laceration (fishtail)

double edged weapon

• elliptical or slit-like

• both ends sharp or pointed

incision description

• width

  • greater than edge of weapon due to retraction of divided tissues

• length

  • not related to size of cutting edge of weapon

• depth

  • highly variable

• margins are clean cut and well defined

  • may evert

  • no abrasion or contusions caused by blade unless very irregular or nicked

gunshot

• kinetic energy proportional to its weight and its velocity squared

• bullet pierces skin, creates a primary injury track through which bullet travelled, much larger area of cavitation causing tissue trauma

shotgun

• at close range will do more damage over smaller area

• at distance will do less damage over larger area