Evaluation of suicidal self-inflicted stab wounds to the abdomen: Differences with the forensic experience

Abstract

With great interest we read the paper regarding a retrospective study on abdominal self-inflicted stab wounds (ASWs) cases reported by Abdullah et al. 1 Abdullah F. Nuernberg A. Rabinovici R. Self inflicted abdominal stab wounds. Injury. 2003; 34: 35-39 Abstract Full Text Full Text PDF PubMed Scopus (40) Google Scholar Recently we have experienced a very unusual case of fatal self inflicted abdominal knife wounds as cause of death in a 64-year-old woman with a recent history of depression. The crime scene was as follows: a family member found the old woman dead in her bedroom at home with a kitchen knife in the right hand: a forensic autopsy was performed. On external examination, three horizontally aligned stab wounds where located on the left upper quadrant of the abdomen and two other superficial stab wounds parallel to each other on the left anterior region of the neck were documented. Two out of the three stab wounds in the abdomen were superficial tentative marks—hesitation injuries; the third one was penetrating the abdomen. Evaluation of suicidal self-inflicted stab wounds to the abdomen: Differences with the forensic experienceInjuryVol. 37Issue 7PreviewWe thank Dr. Cittadini and his colleagues for their remarks and interest in our recent article.1 We would like to respond to several of their comments. First, the reviewers emphasise that in contrast to our opinion, their case suggests that self-inflicted abdominal stab wounds (ASW) can be lethal and can injure the heart. Our conclusion based on a limited series of 23 cases has been that self-inflicted ASW in suicidal patients can induce significant although probably non-lethal abdominal and retroperitoneal injuries. Full-Text PDF