[Durgical](https://durgical.com/en/) › [DurgiPedia](https://durgical.com/en/durgipedia/) › [Forensic medicine](https://durgical.com/en/forensic-medicine/) › Thanatology # Thanatology Signs of death, postmortem changes, time since death, the death scene and the medico-legal autopsy. 30 pages ## Finding - [**Algor mortis: cooling of the body** After death the body loses heat until it matches the surrounding temperature, at a rate that…](https://durgical.com/en/forensic-medicine/algor-mortis-cooling-of-the-body/) - [**Decomposition: autolysis and putrefaction** After death tissues are broken down by their own enzymes (autolysis) and by bacteria, mostly…](https://durgical.com/en/forensic-medicine/decomposition-autolysis-and-putrefaction/) - [**Livor mortis (hypostasis)** Lividity is the red-purple discolouration of the lowest parts of a dead body, caused by blood…](https://durgical.com/en/forensic-medicine/livor-mortis/) - [**Postmortem artefacts: what is not an injury** An artefact is a change that appears after death or from medical care and can look like an…](https://durgical.com/en/forensic-medicine/postmortem-artefacts-what-is-not-an-injury/) - [**Preservative changes: adipocere, mummification, skeletonisation** In some conditions a body does not fully putrefy: fat turns to a waxy substance (adipocere) or…](https://durgical.com/en/forensic-medicine/preservative-changes-adipocere-mummification-skeletonisation/) - [**Rigor mortis and cadaveric spasm** Hours after death the muscles stiffen because the fibres run out of energy, and the stiffness…](https://durgical.com/en/forensic-medicine/rigor-mortis-and-cadaveric-spasm/) ## Topic - [**Biosafety in the autopsy room** The autopsy carries a real risk of infection, mainly tuberculosis, blood-borne viruses and…](https://durgical.com/en/forensic-medicine/biosafety-in-the-autopsy-room/) - [**Cause, mechanism and manner of death** The cause is the disease or injury that starts the chain, the mechanism is how the body fails…](https://durgical.com/en/forensic-medicine/cause-mechanism-and-manner-of-death/) - [**Deaths in custody and during restraint** Every death of a person in State custody needs an independent investigation and a full…](https://durgical.com/en/forensic-medicine/deaths-in-custody-and-during-restraint/) - [**Diagnosing death: the signs of death** Diagnosing death means confirming, by clinical examination, that circulation, breathing and…](https://durgical.com/en/forensic-medicine/diagnosing-death-the-signs-of-death/) - [**Early postmortem changes: an overview** In the first hours after death the body cools, blood settles in the lowest parts and the muscles…](https://durgical.com/en/forensic-medicine/early-postmortem-changes-an-overview/) - [**Maternal deaths and deaths after unsafe abortion** The autopsy of a woman who dies in pregnancy, childbirth or the puerperium looks for the exact…](https://durgical.com/en/forensic-medicine/maternal-deaths-and-deaths-after-unsafe-abortion/) - [**Sudden cardiac death at autopsy** The autopsy of a sudden cardiac death examines the heart systematically to find the cause and to…](https://durgical.com/en/forensic-medicine/sudden-cardiac-death-at-autopsy/) - [**Sudden natural death outside the heart** Brain haemorrhage, pulmonary embolism, epilepsy, asthma, aortic rupture and other diseases also…](https://durgical.com/en/forensic-medicine/sudden-natural-death-outside-the-heart/) - [**Sudden unexpected death in adults and infants** Sudden death is the quick death of an apparently healthy person without an obvious cause; it…](https://durgical.com/en/forensic-medicine/sudden-unexpected-death-in-adults-and-infants/) ## Procedure - [**Deaths associated with surgery and anaesthesia** The autopsy of a patient who dies during or after surgery separates the underlying disease, a…](https://durgical.com/en/forensic-medicine/deaths-associated-with-surgery-and-anaesthesia/) - [**Exhumation** Exhumation is the recovery of a buried body or its remains for an investigation; in Colombia the…](https://durgical.com/en/forensic-medicine/exhumation/) - [**Special autopsy techniques: air embolism, pneumothorax, neck dissection** Some findings disappear with a routine autopsy, so they must be suspected beforehand and looked…](https://durgical.com/en/forensic-medicine/special-autopsy-techniques-air-embolism-pneumothorax-neck-dissection/) - [**The autopsy in a suspected sexual homicide** When a person may have been sexually assaulted before death, the autopsy must find and preserve…](https://durgical.com/en/forensic-medicine/the-autopsy-in-a-suspected-sexual-homicide/) - [**The autopsy report and the negative autopsy** The autopsy report describes what was found and interprets it, so that another expert could…](https://durgical.com/en/forensic-medicine/the-autopsy-report-and-the-negative-autopsy/) - [**The death scene: inspección técnica a cadáver (levantamiento)** The inspection of the body at the scene is done by the judicial police; the doctor contributes…](https://durgical.com/en/forensic-medicine/the-death-scene-inspeccion-tecnica-a-cadaver/) - [**The external examination of the body** Before any incision, the whole surface of the body is examined, described and photographed; in…](https://durgical.com/en/forensic-medicine/the-external-examination-of-the-body/) - [**The internal examination and the samples to take** The internal examination opens the body cavities in a set order, examines each organ and takes…](https://durgical.com/en/forensic-medicine/the-internal-examination-and-the-samples-to-take/) - [**The medico-legal autopsy: when it is mandatory in Colombia** A medico-legal autopsy is mandatory in violent, suspicious or unexplained deaths, and it is…](https://durgical.com/en/forensic-medicine/the-medico-legal-autopsy-when-it-is-mandatory-in-colombia/) - [**The Minnesota Protocol: investigating potentially unlawful deaths** A United Nations manual on how to investigate a death the State may have caused or that occurred…](https://durgical.com/en/forensic-medicine/the-minnesota-protocol-investigating-potentially-unlawful-deaths/) ## Method - [**Estimating time since death** Time since death is estimated by combining several signs and methods, and it is always given as…](https://durgical.com/en/forensic-medicine/estimating-time-since-death/) - [**Forensic entomology** The insects that colonise a body, and how far they have developed, show the minimum time it has…](https://durgical.com/en/forensic-medicine/forensic-entomology/) - [**Neonaticide and the question of live birth** When a newborn is found dead, the autopsy tries to tell whether it was viable and born alive; no…](https://durgical.com/en/forensic-medicine/neonaticide-and-the-question-of-live-birth/) - [**Postmortem imaging and virtual autopsy** CT and MRI of the body, before or instead of the autopsy, show fractures, gas, projectiles and…](https://durgical.com/en/forensic-medicine/postmortem-imaging-and-virtual-autopsy/) - [**The molecular autopsy and inherited cardiac disease** The molecular autopsy is postmortem genetic testing that looks for an inherited disease when the…](https://durgical.com/en/forensic-medicine/the-molecular-autopsy-and-inherited-cardiac-disease/) ## 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/thanatology/ License: CC BY 4.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). Cite as: DurgiPedia (durgical.com), https://durgical.com/en/forensic-medicine/areas/thanatology/