A 28-year-old man is brought to the emergency department with a wound on his forearm showing irregular, abraded, and contused margins, with hair bulbs visible at the base of the wound. The wound was caused by:
- A A blunt force causing a laceration ✓
- B A sharp-edged knife
- C A firearm projectile at close range
- D A sharp-pointed instrument (stab wound)
Correct answer: A. A blunt force causing a laceration
Explanation
The described features — irregular margins, abraded and contused edges, and intact hair bulbs/tissue bridges at the wound base — are hallmark characteristics of a laceration caused by blunt force. Incised wounds (sharp instruments) have clean, non-abraded margins; stab wounds have clean puncture margins. Tissue bridges, which are strands of connective tissue traversing the wound base, are pathognomonic of lacerations and help distinguish them from incised wounds when margins are otherwise ambiguous.
Reference: The Essentials of Forensic Medicine and Toxicology (Narayan Reddy), 34th ed.
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Written and medically reviewed by the StethoPrep medical team.