Physical activity following fatal injury from sharp pointed weapons

Abstract

Cases of suicide from sharp pointed weapons (n = 12) witnessed by one or more persons are reported with regard to the potential for physical activity. One case each involved the ulnar artery, the great saphenous vein and the periphery of the lung and liver and the physical activity following these injuries lasted for several hours. In one case, the left carotid and vertebral arteries were transected and the physical activity lasted for approximately 10 s. An extraordinary case involved a protracted incapacitation due to heart tamponade from a small myocardial injury caused by a cannula. In the remaining seven cases, a stab wound to the heart was present. With regard to the physical activity, a long-term group (2-10 min, n = 4) can be differentiated from a short-term group (approximately 10 s, n = 2) and one case of immediate incapacitation. The size of the myocardial perforation was 7-10 mm in length in the long-term group compared to 1.4-2 cm in the short-term group. So small perforations of the heart or incisions of the carotid artery offer a potential for considerable physical activity. Large perforations of the heart or a transection of the carotid and vertebral arteries can result in short-term activity.

Two unusual stab injuries to the neck: homicide or self-infliction?

“…The 11-year-old daughter stated that the time gap between the shouting and her entering the living room and finding her mother was only about 20 s, so the two women definitely were the only persons present in the house. Also, it has been documented that it is possible to cover a distance of 10 m or more after transection of a common carotid artery [7]. These findings clearly exclude the involvement of another person.…”

Delayed deaths after vascular traumatism: Two cases

“…Furthermore, a pleural breach with haemothorax was associated with a higher mortality rate in the cases review by Campbell et al 1 Finally, there is some controversies around the effect of cardiac tamponade. While Karger et al have stated that cardiac tamponade had a negative influence on survival 13 , some authors have demonstrated the opposite. 1,21 An hypothesis was proposed to explain this surprising positive effect of tamponade: its occurrence may be associated with a less important exsanguination.…”

“…In myocardial wounds, 7-10 mm lesion lengths were more commonly associated with longer survival time (2-10 min), whereas 1.4-2 cm lesions were related to periods of about 10 s. 13 Likewise, small heart perforations or small carotid artery incisions offered a potential for considerable physical activity 13 while larger lesions of the same type will result in short-term survival.…”

“…6 A literature research underlined different case reports where more details about the survival delay and physical activity were available. [8][9][10][11][12][13] They are compiled in Table 1. It should be mentioned though that delayed deaths from late complications of stab lesions were not revised here since this is a different issue.…”

Precise survival time and physical activity after fatal left ventricle injury from sharp pointed weapon: a case report and a review of the literature

“…In our case, only 660 ml of haemothorax were found during the autopsy but many traces of blood were discovered on the ground, meaning a severe external hemorrhage. Karger, Niemeyer and Brinkmann [20] report cases of suicide from sharp pointed weapons witnessed by one or more persons. Four cases can be compared to our case.…”