Chapter 16: Trauma, Injury and Wound

Trauma

Trauma

a wound or injury, especially produced by external force.

Mechanical Trauma

All injuries sustained due to physical violence to the body.

Impact of a Moving Object

Here the trauma is due to the impact of a moving object on a relatively non-mobile victim.

Impact of a Virtually Non-moving Object

Here the mechanical trauma is due to the impact of moving victim who directly hits against a non-moving object.

Blunt Force Trauma

It is injury produced by weapons or objects with blunt edges or surfaces.

Sharp Force Trauma

It is injuries produced by weapons or objects with sharp cutting edges or edges.

Abrasion

a superficial injury, inducing displacement of only epidermis in the skin by friction.

Scratches

linear injuries due to a sharp object

Grazes

These are injuries due to frictional force of rubbing by a blunt object moving with great force.

Brush Burns

These are grazes involving a wider area due to the frictional force of rubbing against a rough surface and resembles a burn injury.

Rope burns

These are due to heat produced by frictional force of a rope against the skin.

Pressure Abrasion

This will be caused by direct impact or linear pressure of a rough object over the skin accompanied with slight movement directed inwards resulting in crushing of superficial layers of the cuticle with some bruising underneath.

Pressure sores

These are due to pressure necrosis of the skin in a person who is bedridden for long-time and not under proper care.

Impact Abrasions

These are due to direct impact or pressure of some object, which on crushing the cuticle casts a reproduction of its shape and surface marking upon the skin.

Contusion

a hemorrhage into the skin, or into the tissues under the skin or both, as a result of rupture of small blood vessels, especially capillaries by a blunt impact.

Superficial Bruises

These are usually seen raised above the surface of the skin (swelling) due to infiltration of blood into the subcutaneous tissues.

Deep/Delayed/Migratory/Ectopic Bruises

These may also produce a mild swelling and may take more time to appear externally than superficial bruises.

Patterned Bruises

These are bruises that take round or oval shape. Sometimes it could also take up the shape of the causative weapon used.

Artificial Bruises (Fabricated wounds)

These are skin lesions produced by the application of certain irritant substances such as plumbago rosea-roots/twigs of the plant and marking nut juice over skin, which resembles a bruise apparently.

Laceration

a disruption of the continuity of tissue, produced by stretching or crushing type of blunt forces.

Split Laceration

occurs when the skin is crushed between two hard objects, e.g. incised-like laceration of the scalp and forehead.

Stretch Laceration

occurs due to the overstretching of the skin, beyond its elasticity.

Avulsion

a lesion wherein the skin separates by tearing from the underlying tissues or peels off and overhangs the wound.

Incised Wound

a clean cut through tissues by an object with a sharp cutting edge.

Hesitation cuts / tentative cuts

parallel superficial cuts suggestive of suicidal motive, seen in the vital parts of the body such as neck, chest on left side, wrists, etc. and are inflicted by the victim, prior to the final fatal deep cut or stab, e.g. suicidal cut-throat wound.

Defense cuts

incised wounds suggestive of homicidal motive or assault with sharp weapon, seen on a victim’s forearms and hands, while making either an attempt to grab the weapon by its blade resulting in active defense wounds or just taking the weapon on his parts in order to protect himself from the attack resulting in passive defense wound.

Stab wounds

wounds produced by sharp pointed objects penetrating the skin and underlying structures.

single edged knife

If the weapon is a _______, it will be wedge / triangular in shape, blunt edge of the knife corresponds to the base of the triangle.

double-edged knife

If the weapon is a __________, the wound would be spindle shaped.

circular

f the weapon is a nail, screwdriver, etc. the wound would be _____ shaped.

Volitional Activities

the actual voluntary acts or physical activity observed in a victim of fatal stab injury.

Punctured wound

Here the weapon just enters into the part of the body without entering into any of the body cavity.

Penetrating wound

Here the weapon just enters into the body cavity producing only one wound.

Perforating wound

Here the weapon after entering into one side of the body will come out through the other side, producing two wounds.

Vendetta murder

a phenomena of revengeful homicide wherein the assailant, on his or her victim stabs several times, especially mutilating the face by dragging the knife in a criss-cross manner.

Concealed punctured wounds

these are punctured wounds made by pins and needles, usually difficult to locate by naked eye examination and missed by the inexperienced autopsy surgeon.

Chop wounds

Injuries  produced by a blow with the sharp cutting edge of a fairly heavy weapon like an ax, hatchet, saber, etc.