Gunshot entry wound
- Finding
An entry wound is usually small and round, with inverted edges and an abrasion ring; depending on range, it may show stippling or soot.
What it is
The entry wound is where the projectile goes through the skin. Its constant features come from the projectile itself: a small, round or oval hole with inverted edges, surrounded by the abrasion ring (anillo de contusión, a rim scraped by the projectile) and the bullet wipe (anillo de enjugamiento, where the projectile wipes soot and grease from the barrel onto the skin). The range-dependent features (burning, soot, stippling) come from the discharge residues and help estimate how far away the weapon was. On the skull, an entry wound bevels the inner table.
How to tell it apart
- Versus the exit wound: an exit is usually larger, irregular, with everted edges and no abrasion ring.
- Exceptions: a shored exit (skin pressed against a firm surface) can show an abraded rim and look like an entry.
- A projectile that first went through an object (glass, door, another body) can make an atypical, large, irregular entry.
- The size of the hole does not reliably give the calibre.
How to recognise it
- A round or oval hole, smaller than the projectile because of skin elasticity, with inverted edges.
- Abrasion ring: a reddish rim without epidermis around the hole.
- Bullet wipe: a dark inner rim of grease and soot from the barrel; may be absent if clothing was in the way.
- Depending on range: burning and singed hair, soot (washes off) and stippling or tattooing (does not wash off).
How it forms
- The projectile pushes and inverts the skin before perforating it and scrapes it in a ring.
- As it passes, it leaves on the edges the grease and soot it carries from the barrel.
- Gases, flame, soot and powder grains leave the muzzle with the projectile and reach the skin only at short range.
- In hard contact, the gases go under the skin and tear it, especially over bone.
Entry versus exit wound (typical pattern; there are exceptions) · Sources: StatPearls, Gunshot Wounds Forensic Pathology (NBK556119); review PMC12791185
| Feature | Entry | Exit |
|---|---|---|
| Size and shape | Small, round or oval | Often larger, irregular, stellate or slit-like |
| Edges | Inverted | Everted |
| Abrasion ring and bullet wipe | Present (may be missing with clothing in the way) | Absent, except in a shored exit |
| Discharge residues (soot, stippling) | Possible at short range | Absent |
| Bevelling in flat bone (skull) | Inner-table bevelling | Outer-table bevelling |
| Material carried | Clothing fibres into the track | Bone fragments or tissue outwards |
Next step: what to do and document
- Treat the emergency; if possible, photograph each wound with a scale before debriding, and do not extend or suture it without documenting it.
- Describe each wound separately without calling it "entry" or "exit" if you are unsure: shape, size, edges, rings and residues, with its distance from anatomical landmarks (for example, from the heel and the midline).
- Do not wash the area before documenting soot: it wipes off and is lost.
- Keep the clothing without cutting through the holes and every projectile or fragment removed (handle it without toothed metal forceps), with chain of custody.
- Under Law 906 of 2004 (art. 255), health staff are responsible for collecting, preserving and handing over physical evidence; start the reporting pathway.
- Official text checked on 2026-11-05 at funcionpublica.gov.co.
Common mistakes
- Labelling "entry" and "exit" in the emergency room from wound size alone.
- Washing the skin or discarding clothing before documenting discharge residues.
- Marking the projectile with toothed forceps or losing it among surgical waste.
- Assuming a wound without residues is distant: clothing may have caught them.
Test yourself
Think of the answer, then tap the question to see it.
What is the abrasion ring of an entry wound?
A reddish rim without epidermis around the hole, made by the projectile scraping the skin as it inverts and perforates it.
What does an eccentric abrasion ring indicate?
An oblique shot: the ring is wider on the side the projectile came from.
Where is the bevelling on the skull at an entry wound?
On the inner table: the hole is smaller outside and wider inside; at an exit the bevelling is on the outer table.
What is the Benassi sign?
A ring of soot on the outer table of the bone beneath a contact gunshot entry wound.
Why can a wound with an abraded rim be an exit?
Because if the skin was pressed against a firm surface (shored exit), the rim is abraded as the projectile leaves.
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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.
Sources: Gunshot Wounds Forensic Pathology (StatPearls) (NCBI Bookshelf, StatPearls Publishing, 2023); Gunshot Wound Patterns: A Narrative Review From a Forensic Medical Perspective (Cureus (PMC), 2026); Heridas atípicas producidas por proyectil de arma de fuego: reporte de caso (Revista Medicina Legal de Costa Rica (SciELO), 2022); Suicidio mediante el uso de un arma de fuego, con presencia de doble signo de Hoffmann: reporte de un caso (Revista Medicina Legal de Costa Rica (SciELO), 2021); Ley 906 de 2004, Código de Procedimiento Penal (Función Pública, Gestor Normativo, 2004).
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