A 40-year-old is brought in after an assault; examination shows a laceration over the scalp with inverted, bruised edges, bridging tissue strands crossing the floor of the wound, and contamination. The CHARACTERISTIC finding that distinguishes this wound from an incised wound is:

• A Clean, sharp-cut margins without undermining
• B Absence of bruising at wound margins
• C Depth greater than length
• D Bridging tissue strands across the floor of the wound ✓

Explanation

Lacerations (produced by blunt force) have irregular, bruised, inverted edges with bridging strands of nerves, blood vessels and connective tissue crossing the floor because the tissue is torn apart rather than cut. Incised wounds are produced by sharp objects and have clean, everted, non-bruised margins with no bridging strands. The depth exceeding length is a feature of stab wounds. Bridging strands are pathognomonic of blunt force laceration and cannot occur in an incised wound.

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.