A Comprehensive Analysis of Post-Mortem Findings in Asphyxia Deaths

Abstract

Introduction: "Asphyxia" refers to a multi-etiologic set of conditions in which there is inadequate transport, uptake and/or utilization of oxygen by the body's tissues/cells, often accompanied by carbon dioxide retention.Death is attributed to asphyxia only when asphyxia itself is the condition that directly causes the death. This project was conducted to investigate the features of asphyxia that guide us towards the cause, mode and manner of Death. Material and Methods: After obtaining approval from the institutional ethics committee, all autopsy cases which came to the Department of Forensic Medicine, IGMC, Shimla over a period of one year with asphyxia as a mode of death as per Police papers or history provided by the accompanying attendant(s) were taken as the study sample. Observation and Results: 360 autopsy cases were performed between September 2015 to August 2016 out of which 100 cases were attributed to asphyxia; these were thus included for final analysis. The mean age was 35.14 ± 16.58 years. 54% of caseswere attributed to poisoning followed by 21% to hanging. 99% of the study subjects had brain congestion and 84% had facial congestion. 99% had pulmonary oedema, 82% had fluid in trachea and only 5% had laryngeal oedema. Conclusion: It is recommended that while ascertaining asphyxia as a mode of death, a holistic and syndromic approach regarding circumstantial evidences, case history and autopsy findings must be considered.