Abdominal stab wound with an unusual presentation: A case report

Abstract

The forensic literature has described unusual wounds of entry into fatal stab wounds that are rarely found in autopsies. Stab wounds are considered fatal injuries when they occur in vital organs. Many authors have suggested that the description of the wound track helps recreate the crime scene. Still, many say that the recreation of a crime scene is a static event, whereas the actual event is dynamic. We received the dead body of a 25-year-old male for postmortem examination. During autopsy, we found a wedge-shaped stab wound in the epigastric region. Interestingly, when we dissected the skin and subcutaneous tissue without disturbing the wound, we observed two separate wedge-shaped wounds over the rectus sheath. A knife can produce an atypical appearance after plunging into the body. With a single external primary stab wound, two different wound tracks can be made internally. Thus, examining only the wound track made it impossible to comment on the circumstances of violence.