Projectile Trauma PDF

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Projectile Trauma...

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Monday, March 9, 2020

Forensic Anthropology Projectile Trauma!

- Projectile injury in skeletonize remains! • More limited range of questions, such as! - Direction of fire! - Type of projectile! - Number and sequence of wounds! - Firearm analysis! • Analysis of weapons and ammunition done by ballistics specialists, not by forensic anthropologists or pathologists!

• Forensic anthropologists need to be careful not to go beyond their area of expertise!

- Firearm types! • General categories! - Handguns (most commonly used)! - Rifles! - Shotguns! - Handguns and ammunition! • Popular handgun cartridges! - .357 magnum! - .45 auto! - .40 S&W! - 9 mm parabellum ! 1

Monday, March 9, 2020

- Rifles and shotguns! • Rifles caused greater damage to the soft tissue and bone, due to higher velocity and energy!

• Crime statistics show rifles not commonly used in homicides! • Shotguns also very destructive at close range! - Recognizing gunshot trauma in bone! • Usually straightforward, because of the characteristic features of bullet entrance and exit wounds!

• Smooth on the outside and ragged on the inside! • Bullet wipe or fragments! - Bullet wipe and fragments! • Bullet wipe: traces of metal left along the wound track! • Often seen in radiographs, but may be visible to the naked eye on bone surface! • Bullets may fragment when they hit bone, especially high velocity ammunition like the .22 round!

- Gunshot wounds to the skull! • Key features! - Entrance and exit wounds! - Radiating and concentric fractures! - Entry wound to the skull! • Outer table of skull shows rounded, smooth-edged hole! • Inner table shows beveled defect, more irregular in shape!

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Monday, March 9, 2020

- Exit wound! • Beveling outer table of skull! • Often larger, more ragged than the entrance wound, due to distortion/tumbling of bullet, decreased velocity!

• Bullets don’t always exit, particularly small calibers; may be found in the skull

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