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Tissue defect at the gunshot entrance wound: what happens to the skin?

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Abstract

To investigate the question what happens to the tissue lost at the entrance wound, experimental studies were performed on composite models consisting of dyed pig skin and gelatin blocks. For the test shots to the skin–gelatin preparations, cartridges calibre .38 spec. with different bullet types (round nose, hollow point, flat nose, truncated cone) were used. In all shots, a multitude of coloured skin particles were macroscopically discernible along the bullet tracks. In addition, small cell aggregations could be demonstrated microscopically even in those sections of the bullet paths which did not show skin fragments visible to the naked eye. The distribution of the skin particles showed certain peculiarities depending on the type of projectile.

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Acknowledgement

The authors thank Mr. Roland Braunwarth for his technical assistance.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Institute of Legal Medicine, University Hospital Freiburg, Albertstraße 9, 79104, Freiburg, Germany

    M. Große Perdekamp, B. Vennemann & S. Pollak

  2. Institute of Pathology, University Hospital Freiburg, Albertstraße 11, 79104, Freiburg, Germany

    D. Mattern

  3. Institute of Medical Microbiology and Hygiene, University Hospital Freiburg, Hermann-Herder-Straße 11, 79104, Freiburg, Germany

    A. Serr

Authors
  1. M. Große Perdekamp
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  2. B. Vennemann
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  3. D. Mattern
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  4. A. Serr
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  5. S. Pollak
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to M. Große Perdekamp.

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Große Perdekamp, M., Vennemann, B., Mattern, D. et al. Tissue defect at the gunshot entrance wound: what happens to the skin?. Int J Legal Med 119, 217–222 (2005). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00414-005-0542-z

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00414-005-0542-z

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