Perimortem and Postmortem Trauma Flashcards

1
Q

perimortem trauma

A
  • occurs at or around death
  • bone is still fresh
  • shows no evidence of healing
  • does not result from taphonomy
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2
Q

what are the types of perimortem trauma?

A
  • blunt force trauma
  • sharp force trauma
  • ballistic trauma
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3
Q

what are the characteristics of perimortem trauma?

A
  • no evidence of healing
  • uniform coloration of broken and intact bone surface
  • presence of depressed fractures, concentric fractures, and radiating fractures
  • adherent bone spurs or splinting
  • jagged edges
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4
Q

postmortem damage

A
  • not trauma
  • damage to the body that occurs after death
  • may occur anytime in the postmortem interval
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5
Q

characteristics of postmortem damage

A
  • smaller, more numerous fragments
  • right-angles/square fracture margins
  • absence of identifiable fracture patterns
  • absence of adherent bone spurs or splintering
  • coloration differences between fracture margins and adjacent intact bone
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6
Q

blunt force trauma

A
  • caused by a relatively low-velocity force applied over a relatively large surface area
  • blunt object strikes body (acceleration trauma)
  • moving body strikes blunt object or ground (deacceleration)
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7
Q

linear fractures

A
  • low velocity, high mass
  • may emanate from point of impact and radiate outward
  • may circumscribe point of impact as the result of outbending
  • tend toward path of least resistance
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8
Q

le fort

A
  • midface fracture

- separation of maxilla and/or zygomatics

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9
Q

plastic deformation

A
  • permanent deformation of bone (fracture patterns/margins do not line up)
  • may be seen in relatively elastic bones
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10
Q

depressed fracture

A
  • higher velocity, smaller mass
  • may result in crushed outer table
  • may result in localized area of detached bone
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11
Q

pattern defects

A
  • when BFT defect has impressions of the object that caused the impact
  • not commonly found in bone
  • can never conclusively correlate a single weapon to a skeletal defect
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12
Q

sequence of blunt force trauma

A
  • later fractures will terminate into earlier ones
  • earlier fracture margins may be mapped
  • if there are many blows, it may be impossible to figure our the trauma sequence
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13
Q

long bone fractures

A
  • bending and compression fractures

- usually complete fractures

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14
Q

compound/open

A
  • can also be segmental or comminuted
  • sticks our of skin
  • increased risk of infection
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15
Q

transverse fractures

A
  • right angle to bone’s axis
  • displaced or nondisplaced
  • line across the bone
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16
Q

displaced

A

bone does not line up perfectly

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17
Q

oblique

A
  • oblique fracture of the shaft
  • curved/sloped pattern
  • at an angle
18
Q

spiral fracture

A
  • oblique fracture around the shaft

- torque applied to long axis

19
Q

segmental

A

results in 3 fragments

20
Q

butterfly

A
  • type of segmental fracture
  • center segment is a triangle
  • gives directionality
21
Q

comminuted

A
  • several complex fractures with many bone fragments

- open/closed

22
Q

impacted (buckle)

A
  • compression of 2 fragments of some bone

- common in falls and car accidents

23
Q

greenstick

A
  • incomplete fracture
  • bone bent
  • common in children
24
Q

sharp force trauma

A
  • essentially blunt force trauma over a very narrow area
  • main defect in bone is produced by physical interruption of the bone by a foreign object
  • can also create tension/compression fractures of BFT (less likely)
25
Q

what are the three types of sharp force trauma?

A
  • incisions
  • puncture/stabbing wounds
  • chopping/hacking
26
Q

incised wounds

A
  • length>depth
  • v shaped in cross section
  • one side llifted relative to the other
  • different cuts can be made with the same weapon
27
Q

puncture/stab wounds

A
  • depth>length
  • caused by sharp-ended instrument being thrust into tissue
  • may provide more info about width, depth, and cross sectional shape of the instrument
28
Q

chopping/hacking

A
  • caused by instruments like axes or machetes with load applied perpendicular to the sharp edge
  • crushing component
  • may leave striae that record irregularites along the lebgth of the blade
29
Q

what are the effects of sharp force trauma?

A
  • radiating fractures
  • hinge fracture
  • wastage
30
Q

what do deep, small wounds indicate?

A

puncture tools were used

31
Q

how does rhe assessibilty of the wound effect the object used?

A

the harder the area is to get to, the more likely a longer blade was used

32
Q

what does chopping/hacking do?

A

-causes previous marks to be destroyed

33
Q

kerf

A

walls and floor of a cut mark (like a saw)

-can be used to determine saw type and characteristics

34
Q

breakway spur

A
  • projection of uncut bone
  • found at the terminal end of the cut after the face of the sae breaks the remaining intact bone
  • accompanied by a notch on the opposite oiece
35
Q

false starts

A
  • a kerf cut that does not completlely separate the bone

- can provide you with alot of information about the saw

36
Q

terminal ballistics

A

study of a projectile when it hits a target

37
Q

caliber

A

-the cross sectional diameter of the opposite projectile

38
Q

full jacket vs unjacketed

A

full jackets retain their shape while unjacketed rounds will fragment or collapse

39
Q

entry wound

A

smaller with internal beveling

40
Q

exit wound

A

longer and less defined with external beveling

41
Q

what can you learn with trajectory analysis?

A
  • relationship between the shooter and the victim
  • intermediate targets like, if the bullet went through somethign else before hitting the victim, the bullet slowing down wukk cause a different injury pattern