Injuries to the Body

Question 1

define injury

Answer 1

wound also damage caused by heat, cold, electricity, chemicals and radiation

Question 2

define lesion

Answer 2

any area of injury, disease or local degeneration in tissue causing a change in its structure or function

Question 3

defect

Answer 3

unknown mechanism

Question 4

physical factors

Answer 4

degree of force applied

area of application of force

duration of application

direction of application tissue properties

Question 5

kinetic energy

Answer 5

imparted to the tissues when a moving object strikes the body or the moving body strikes an object velocity is the most important factor in wounding potential

Question 6

mechanical force (7)

Answer 6

impact

angulation

compression

traction

torsion

shearing

acceleration/deceleration

Question 7

injury classification

Answer 7

sharp force : stabs, incisions chop wounds

blunt force : abrasions, bruises, lacerations

ballistic : explosions, gunshots: rifle, shotgun

Question 8

blunt force injuries

Answer 8

caused by impact with a blunt object result in abrasions, contusions and lacerations

Question 9

abrasions

Answer 9

graze/scratch superficial/partial thickness skin injury to the epidermis

• crushing by vertical force (imprint)
• scraping by tangenital force clinically trivial, slight bleeding heal quickly and often leave no scar

Question 10

contusions

Answer 10

• bruises
• crushing of the dermal blood vessels by mechanical impact causing leakage of blood into the skin
• contusion bruising of internal organs
• patterned bruising: tram track, clustered discoid, black eyes

Question 11

interpretation of bruising

Answer 11

• collection of blood can form a haematoma in a place other than the site of injury e.g. scrotum, palm, sole, eye socket
• amount of blood in the extraversion is dependent on the vessel size and number of vessels damaged
• disordered blood coagulation- depth at which bruise develops
• skin colour
• tracking to another location
• appearance may be delayed and ageing is often inaccurate
• size rarely reflects severity of impact and shape rarely reflects shape of causal object

Question 12

lacerations

Answer 12

tear/split of the skin due to crushing

partial/full thicknes

scan impact underlying bone caused by: impact against a flat surface, impact by an edged or pointed object, rotation of tissue on a limb/torso, XS frictional/tearing forces

Question 13

sharp force injuries

Answer 13

caused by any weapon with a sharp cutting edge superficial or penetrating incised wounds or stab wounds

Question 14

incised wounds

Answer 14

superficial injury caused by slashing motion

• longer on the skin surface than it is deep usually penetrates the full thickness of the skin
• clean cut, well defined margins
• complete division of all tissues within the wound tract no associated bruising or abrasion around the edgesbleed profusely

Question 15

stab wounds

Answer 15

• penetrating injury resulting from thrusting motion
• depth greater than surface length clean cut, well defined margins
• involves full thickness of the skin and extends into underlying tissues
• no associated bruising or abrasion at the wound edges unless knife is inserted to the hilt

Question 16

laceration vs incision

Answer 16

laceration/ incision (F, M, A/B, TD, B, E)
- caused by blunt force/sharp force

• ragged margins/clean margins
• marginal abrasion, associated bruising/no associated abrasion or bruising
• tissue bridging/clean division of tissues along wound tract
• slight bleeding/profuse bleeding
• trace evidence/no trace evidence

Question 17

atypical stabbing weapons

Answer 17

swords, sabres

razors, scalpels, craft knives, box cutters

scissors

chisels
poker, pitchfork deliberately modified tools improvised weapons

glass, plastic, crockery shards

Question 18

chop wounds

Answer 18

heavy bladed instruments

abrasion +/- bruising of wound margins from wide blade

incised edges crushed on entry of the thick blade

variant of incision

longer than it is deep