Kicking injuries and the mechanism and margins of incised wounds
THE CONTEXT
This passage describes injuries from kicking and stamping, then defines incised wounds and explains their production, margins and width.
Kicking and stamping
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A foot swung or moved downward with force can produce abrasions, contusions and sometimes lacerations; these injuries are more severe than punching injuries.
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Stamping on a recumbent body may cause deep abdominal organ injuries and fractures of the ribs and sternum. The footwear pattern may be imprinted on the skin.
Definition and production of incised wounds
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An incised wound is a clean cut through tissues, usually skin and subcutaneous tissues including blood vessels, caused by a sharp-edged instrument. It is longer than it is deep.
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Pressure and friction from a sharp cutting edge produce the wound, with force concentrated over the narrow area corresponding to the blade's cutting edge.
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Incised wounds may result from striking with a sharp edge, drawing the weapon across the body, or using it like a saw. Sawing may produce several cuts at the beginning that merge into one at the end.
Margins and tissue bridges
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The margins are clean-cut, well-defined and usually everted, without contusions or abrasions. They may be inverted where a thin layer of muscle fibres adheres to the skin, as in the scrotum.
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A dull, irregular or nicked cutting edge may produce irregular, contused or abraded margins because pressure contributes more than the cutting edge.
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A serrated knife passing obliquely or at a shallow angle may produce a saw-toothed cut. The depth of an incised wound does not show bridging tissue.
Wound width
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Retraction of divided tissues makes the wound wider than the thickness of the weapon's edge. Shaking the blade tends to widen the wound further.