死后的变化可以掩盖和模仿创伤,伤害的解释。Bones,虽然能够相对完整地幸存下来,不能幸免于这些影响。没有附着的软组织来帮助检查者,可能很难确定断裂发生的时间范围(即,在死亡之前,在死亡时,或死后)。骨骼由有机和无机材料组成,每个都有助于骨骼的生物力学特性。随着有机物质的流失,骨骼对创伤变化的生物力学反应;然而,有机材料可以在死亡后长时间保留骨骼的一部分。完整有机物质的骨头是湿骨头,没有有机物质的骨头是干燥的骨头,因为这种差异,湿骨骨折与干骨骨折不同。区分两者的重要因素是差异着色,裂缝本身的各种特征(例如,angle,表面,outline),周围皮质的剥落,骨碎片与骨折不完全分离。然而,变化不是绝对的,和确定两种类型的骨折可能是有问题的。虽然死亡前的术语,死前,验尸已经被用来描述骨折的一般时间框架与个人死亡时间的关系,由于专业之间对“死前”定义的混淆,“当骨骼残骸中发现骨折时,最好停止使用它,而采用描述性方法。
Postmortem changes can both mask and mimic trauma, impairing interpretation of the injuries. Bones, while capable of surviving the postmortem period relatively intact, are not immune from these effects. Without attached soft tissue to aid an examiner, it can be difficult to determine the time frame of a fracture\'s occurrence (i.e., before death, at death, or after death). Bones are composed of both organic and inorganic material, each of which contribute to the biomechanical properties of the bones. With the loss of organic material, the biomechanical response of bones to trauma changes; however, the organic material can remain a part of the bone for an extended period after death. Bone with intact organic material is wet bone, and bone without the organic material is dry bone, and because of this difference, fractures of wet bone can appear different than fractures of dry bone. Important in distinguishing the two are differential coloration, various features of the fracture itself (e.g., angle, surface, outline), surrounding flaking of the cortex, and incomplete separation of bone fragments from the fracture. However, the changes are not absolute, and determination of the two types of fractures can be problematic. Although the terms antemortem,
perimortem, and postmortem have been used to describe the general time frame of fractures in relation to the time of death of the individual, because of confusion among specialties regarding the definition of \"
perimortem,\" its use may best be discontinued in favor of a descriptive approach when fractures are identified in skeletal remains.