A contact gunshot wound to the right temple shows a stellate/cruciate laceration of the skin with carbon sooting inside the wound track but absent on the skin surface, along with muzzle contusion tattoo marks. The stellate shape of the skin wound is explained by:

• A The rotational spin of the bullet causing tearing in a star pattern
• B The gas (propellant gases) entering the wound track, expanding subcutaneously, and bursting back through the skin at points of least resistance ✓
• C The bullet's kinetic energy exceeding the tensile strength of the scalp in a cruciform pattern due to skull sutures
• D The muzzle flash burning the skin surface in a star configuration

Explanation

In a hard contact (press-contact) wound, the muzzle is pressed firmly against the skin. Propellant gases, flame, soot, and bullet enter together; the gases track along the bullet path, enter the loose connective tissue or subcutaneous space, and if the wound is over bone (skull), the gases cannot escape deep and so explode back through the entry wound, causing stellate/cruciate lacerations. The carbon sooting is inside the wound, not on the skin surface (explaining its internal location). Bullet spin creates rifling marks on the projectile but does not cause stellate skin wounds.

Reference: The Essentials of Forensic Medicine and Toxicology (Narayan Reddy), 34th ed.

High-yield for: NEET PGINI-CETNExTFMGEUSMLEPLABMRCP

Written and medically reviewed by the StethoPrep medical team.