Radiological stab wound channel depiction with instillation of contrast medium

Bolliger, S.A.; Preiss, U.; Glaeser, N.; Thali, M.J.; Ross, S.

doi:10.1016/j.legalmed.2009.09.006

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Volume 12, Issue 1 , Pages 39-41, January 2010

Radiological stab wound channel depiction with instillation of contrast medium

University of Bern, Centre for Forensic Imaging and Virtopsy, Institute of Forensic Medicine, IRM, Buehlstrasse 20, CH 3012 Bern, Switzerland

Received 18 August 2009; received in revised form 18 September 2009; accepted 20 September 2009. published online 26 October 2009.

Abstract

The radiological depiction of stab wounds in soft-tissues using multislice computed tomography is difficult and the hereby obtained images often lack contrast. To overcome these shortcomings we tried a new method.

We gently instilled the contrast medium Lipiodol^® Ultra-fluide into five experimentally induced stab wounds on a pork haunch. Subsequent MSCT reconstructions of the wounds delivered clear, for medical laymen easily appreciable images regarding the stab direction and the stab depth.

We believe that this easy and rapid technique can be useful in the examination of stab wounds in living and dead victims of sharp trauma.

Keywords: Forensic imaging, MSCT, Contrast medium, Stab channels, Virtopsy