Blunt Trauma

As illustrated in this chapter, clinical and post-mortem forensic radiology has a major application in determining blunt trauma. Blunt-force injuries are produced when the body is struck with or strikes a blunt object. Blunt trauma may occur on all anatomical levels and affect all anatomical structures. The lesional panel is consequently large and almost infinite! In this chapter after a presentation of the general aspects of the blunt trauma, the authors will detail some particular situations generating blunt trauma: the fall from height, the fall from plain level and some combined trauma. In this chapter the different possibilities of diagnoses and images permitted will be presented: radiographies, post-mortem computed tomography (PMCT), post-mortem multiphase computed tomography angiography (MPMCTA) and post-mortem magnetic resonance imaging (PMMMR), based on “classical” medico-legal knowledge. Some aspects of clinical forensic radiology will also be presented, as the inclusion of such data in a clinical medico-legal report is an added value and sometimes the main element of the report written by the forensic pathologist. Besides the major interest of forensic radiology for the forensic specialty and experts’ reports, forensic radiology can easily be visualised or demonstrated or explained in court, facilitating the understanding of medical laypeople. This may increase its impact and highlight the fact that today forensic radiology is now indispensable for clinical forensic medicine and forensic pathology.