Usability of elemental analysis for antemortem and postmortem bone fracture differentiation

Abstract

The differentiation of antemortem and postmortem fractures is a challenging and important issue in forensic medicine. To investigate the usability of chemical element levels in blunt fracture ends for the differentiation of antemortem and postmortem fractures, antemortem and postmortem fractures were created in rats and left to decay in the natural environment. Forty-eight rats were used in this study. The rats divided into six groups, each group containing eight rats. We induced a left mandibular fracture in all rats under anesthesia and then waited for 2 d to become organized to fracture the hematoma. All rats were sacrificed under anesthesia, and a postmortem blunt fracture was created in the right mandible. Samples were taken from the fracture ending at 0, 7, 14, 30, 60, and 90 d after the blunt postmortem fracture. The Mg, S, K, Ca, and Fe contents were measured using inductively coupled plasma/optical emission spectrometry (ICP-OES). In our study, it was observed that antemortem Mg, K, S and Ca levels were generally higher than the post-mortem levels, although not statistically significant in all groups.

Keywords: Bone fracture; Elemental analysis; Forensic medicine; ICP-OES; Postmortem interval.