A Retrospective Study of Rescue Injuries and Agonal Injuries in 640 Death Cases
10.13471/j.cnki.j.sun.yat-sen.univ（med.sci）.2025.0109
- VernacularTitle:640例死因中救治伤和濒死期损伤的回顾性分析
- Author:
Xuanyi LI
1
;
Guoli LV
2
;
Wen YANG
3
;
Chunlei WU
3
;
Xiaoshan LIU
1
;
Bin LUO
1
;
Xinbiao LIAO
2
;
Erwen HUANG
1
Author Information
1. Department of Forensic Medicine， Sun Yat-sen School of Medicine，Sun Yat-sen University， Guangzhou 510080， China
2. Key Laboratory of Forensic Pathology， Ministry of Public Security，Guangzhou 510050， China
3. Criminal Police Brigade， Tianhe Branch of Guangzhou Public Security Bureau， Guangzhou 510635， China
- Publication Type:Journal Article
- Keywords:
identification of cause of death;
rescue injuries;
agonal injuries;
duplicate identification;
forensic pathology
- From:
Journal of Sun Yat-sen University(Medical Sciences)
2025;46(1):81-87
- CountryChina
- Language:Chinese
-
Abstract:
ObjectiveTo clearly identify the difference between rescue injuries and agonal injuries and to avoid duplicate identifications and misidentifications. MethodsBased on the forensic pathological data of 5 923 cases of death cause identification from 2013 to 2022 in Sun Yat-sen University Forensic Identification Center and Guangzhou Tianhe District Branch of Guangzhou Public Security Bureau， this study retrospectively studied the characteristics of rescue injuries and agonal injuries seen in cause of death identification and their influence on cause of death identification. ResultsAmong all the 5 923 cases， 640 cases were found to have rescue injuries or agonal injuries， and 624 cases received treatment， of which 609 cases were found to have rescue injuries （97.60%）， 44 cases were found to have agonal injuries， and 13 cases were found to have both types of injuries. Among the 640 cases， 441 were male and 199 were female. The age of death was discontinuously distributed from 0 to 95 years old. The leading cause of death was disease， followed by mechanical injury and asphyxia. The main manifestations of rescue injuries were rib and sternum fractures， soft tissue injuries in the prechest area or face， and pericardial rupture. The most common injuries in agonal stage were falling after unconsciousness， inhalation of foreign body in respiratory tract or multiple violent injuries. Among the 640 cases， 19 cases were repeatedly identified， including 15 cases of rescue injuries， 6 cases of agonal injuries， and 2 cases of both types of injuries. Compared with the cases where neither type of injuries was detected， the repeated identification rate of treatment injuries and agonal injuries was significantly increased （χ²=4.04， P=0.044； χ²=43.49， P<0.001）. Among the 640 cases， 11 cases （1.72%） were misidentified as the initial injuries in the first identification， and 13 cases had combined rescue injuries or agonal injuries that were involved in death. ConclusionsBy elucidating the epidemiological characteristics of the two types of injuries， this study proved that the two types of injuries were associated with higher rates of repeated identification and misidentification， which provided a reference for reducing repeated identification and misidentification and improving the accuracy of cause of death identification.
