[Durgical](https://durgical.com/en/) › [DurgiPedia](https://durgical.com/en/durgipedia/) › [Forensic medicine](https://durgical.com/en/forensic-medicine/) › Mechanical injuries # Mechanical injuries Blunt, sharp and firearm injuries: entry and exit wounds and range of fire. 30 pages ## Finding - [**Abdominal and pelvic injuries** Blows to the abdomen can tear the liver, spleen or bowel with almost no mark on the skin; the…](https://durgical.com/en/forensic-medicine/abdominal-and-pelvic-injuries/) - [**Abrasions** An abrasion is loss of the surface layer of the skin from friction or pressure by an object; it…](https://durgical.com/en/forensic-medicine/abrasions/) - [**Bruises and haematomas: recognising them, and why colour cannot date them** A bruise is blood escaped from broken vessels under intact skin; its colour cannot tell reliably…](https://durgical.com/en/forensic-medicine/bruises-and-haematomas-recognising-them-and-why-colour-cannot-date-them/) - [**Chest injuries, aortic rupture and resuscitation artefacts** Chest injuries kill by bleeding, air and heart damage; the doctor must also tell injuries from…](https://durgical.com/en/forensic-medicine/chest-injuries-aortic-rupture-and-resuscitation-artefacts/) - [**Chop wounds** Chop wounds are made by heavy edged objects such as machetes or axes; they cut and crush at the…](https://durgical.com/en/forensic-medicine/chop-wounds/) - [**Contusions, coup–contrecoup and diffuse axonal injury** Bruises of the brain and damage to its nerve fibres show how the head moved, and they explain…](https://durgical.com/en/forensic-medicine/contusions-coup-contrecoup-and-diffuse-axonal-injury/) - [**Defence wounds and hesitation marks** Defence wounds appear on the hands and forearms when warding off an attack; hesitation marks are…](https://durgical.com/en/forensic-medicine/defence-wounds-and-hesitation-marks/) - [**Explosion injuries** An explosion injures in four ways: the pressure wave, the fragments, the body being thrown, and…](https://durgical.com/en/forensic-medicine/explosion-injuries/) - [**Extradural, subdural and subarachnoid haemorrhage in forensic practice** Where blood collects inside the skull points to the vessel that bled, the force involved, and…](https://durgical.com/en/forensic-medicine/extradural-subdural-and-subarachnoid-haemorrhage-in-forensic-practice/) - [**Fat, air and thromboembolism after injury** After an injury, fat, air or blood clots can travel to the lungs or brain and kill; the autopsy…](https://durgical.com/en/forensic-medicine/fat-air-and-thromboembolism-after-injury/) - [**Gunshot entry wound** An entry wound is usually small and round, with inverted edges and an abrasion ring; depending…](https://durgical.com/en/forensic-medicine/gunshot-entry-wound/) - [**Gunshot exit wound and telling it from the entry** An exit wound is usually larger and irregular, with everted edges and no rings or residues; but…](https://durgical.com/en/forensic-medicine/gunshot-exit-wound-and-telling-it-from-the-entry/) - [**Incised wounds** An incised wound is made by an edge drawn across the skin; it is longer than deep and has clean…](https://durgical.com/en/forensic-medicine/incised-wounds/) - [**Lacerations: blunt-force tears of the skin** A laceration is a tear of the skin from a blow or stretching; it has irregular edges…](https://durgical.com/en/forensic-medicine/lacerations-blunt-force-tears-of-the-skin/) - [**Patterned injuries: what the mark says about the object** A patterned injury copies the shape of the object or surface that caused it, and can link a…](https://durgical.com/en/forensic-medicine/patterned-injuries-what-the-mark-says-about-the-object/) - [**Puncture and stab wounds** Puncture and stab wounds are made by pointed objects; they are deeper than long and the danger…](https://durgical.com/en/forensic-medicine/puncture-and-stab-wounds/) - [**Self-inflicted injuries: suicidal, self-harm and fabricated** Some injuries are made by the person on themselves, to die, to relieve distress, or to support a…](https://durgical.com/en/forensic-medicine/self-inflicted-injuries-suicidal-self-harm-and-fabricated/) - [**Shotgun wounds** A shotgun fires many pellets: close up they make one large hole and, as the range grows, many…](https://durgical.com/en/forensic-medicine/shotgun-wounds/) - [**Skull fractures: linear, depressed, ring and basal** The type of skull fracture tells the forensic doctor about the force, the object and the…](https://durgical.com/en/forensic-medicine/skull-fractures-linear-depressed-ring-and-basal/) - [**Spinal and cervical injuries** Neck and spine injuries can kill at once or leave a person paralysed; at autopsy they are easy…](https://durgical.com/en/forensic-medicine/spinal-and-cervical-injuries/) ## Topic - [**Classifying mechanical injuries** Mechanical injuries are classified by the object that caused them: blunt, sharp-edged, pointed…](https://durgical.com/en/forensic-medicine/classifying-mechanical-injuries/) - [**Complications of injury and the chain of causation** When a person dies days or weeks after an injury, the doctor must say whether the death followed…](https://durgical.com/en/forensic-medicine/complications-of-injury-and-the-chain-of-causation/) - [**Firearms and ammunition for the doctor** The type of weapon and ammunition changes the wound: knowing this helps you describe it well and…](https://durgical.com/en/forensic-medicine/firearms-and-ammunition-for-the-doctor/) - [**Head injury in forensic medicine: the scalp and an overview** Head injury is the commonest cause of death from blunt force; the forensic doctor reads the…](https://durgical.com/en/forensic-medicine/head-injury-in-forensic-medicine-the-scalp-and-an-overview/) - [**Railway and aviation deaths** In train and air-crash deaths the doctor helps identify the victims, tell whether they were…](https://durgical.com/en/forensic-medicine/railway-and-aviation-deaths/) - [**Road traffic injuries: pedestrians, drivers and riders** Road traffic injuries follow patterns set by the person's role: pedestrian, driver, passenger or…](https://durgical.com/en/forensic-medicine/road-traffic-injuries-pedestrians-drivers-and-riders/) ## Procedure - [**Gunshot residue and recovering projectiles** Gunshot residue and projectiles are fragile evidence: protect them, collect them early without…](https://durgical.com/en/forensic-medicine/gunshot-residue-and-recovering-projectiles/) ## Method - [**Range of fire: contact, close and distant shots** Range of fire is estimated from the residues around the entry: burning, soot and stippling; no…](https://durgical.com/en/forensic-medicine/range-of-fire-contact-close-and-distant-shots/) - [**Suicide or homicide? Reading the scene and the wounds** No single finding separates suicide from homicide: the wounds, the scene, the weapon and the…](https://durgical.com/en/forensic-medicine/suicide-or-homicide-reading-the-scene-and-the-wounds/) - [**Vital reaction: was the wound made in life?** Vital reaction is the set of signs showing an injury happened in life: infiltrated bleeding…](https://durgical.com/en/forensic-medicine/vital-reaction-was-the-wound-made-in-life/) ## A to Z - [A](https://durgical.com/en/forensic-medicine/a-z/a/) - [B](https://durgical.com/en/forensic-medicine/a-z/b/) - [C](https://durgical.com/en/forensic-medicine/a-z/c/) - [D](https://durgical.com/en/forensic-medicine/a-z/d/) - [E](https://durgical.com/en/forensic-medicine/a-z/e/) - [F](https://durgical.com/en/forensic-medicine/a-z/f/) - [G](https://durgical.com/en/forensic-medicine/a-z/g/) - [H](https://durgical.com/en/forensic-medicine/a-z/h/) - [I](https://durgical.com/en/forensic-medicine/a-z/i/) - [L](https://durgical.com/en/forensic-medicine/a-z/l/) - [M](https://durgical.com/en/forensic-medicine/a-z/m/) - [N](https://durgical.com/en/forensic-medicine/a-z/n/) - [P](https://durgical.com/en/forensic-medicine/a-z/p/) - [R](https://durgical.com/en/forensic-medicine/a-z/r/) - [S](https://durgical.com/en/forensic-medicine/a-z/s/) - [T](https://durgical.com/en/forensic-medicine/a-z/t/) - [V](https://durgical.com/en/forensic-medicine/a-z/v/) [← Forensic and legal medicine](https://durgical.com/en/forensic-medicine/) Educational content on forensic and legal medicine; not legal advice and no substitute for the technical guides of Colombia's National Institute of Legal Medicine and Forensic Sciences. Laws change: each page links the official text and says when it was last checked. For a real case, follow the guide in force and ask the competent authority. Representative model, for educational purposes only. --- Source: https://durgical.com/en/forensic-medicine/areas/injuries/ License: CC BY 4.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). Cite as: DurgiPedia (durgical.com), https://durgical.com/en/forensic-medicine/areas/injuries/