Korean J Leg Med.  2009 Nov;33(2):116-121.

Analysis of Clavicular Periosteal Hemorrhages at the Sternocleidomastoid Muscle Origin in Hanging

• Kim HJ
• Kim YH
• Lee SD
• Yoo SH

Abstract

To evaluate the significance of clavicular periosteal hemorrhage at the sternocleidomastoid muscle origin in hangings, we performed prospective analysis on 62 hanging cases. Periosteal hemorrhages were observed in 40 of 62 (64.5%) hanging cases. Periosteal hemorrhages were found in only one or both at the origin site of the sternocleidomastoid muscle; 4, left; 14, right; 22 both clavicles. The analysis based on the hanging types showed that 13 cases were typical/complete hangings and 15, typical/incomplete, 12, atypical/complete, and 22, atypical/incomplete. Of 40 hemorrhage-cases, 19 cases had the hyoid bone and/or thyroid cartilage fractures. Although no statistical significance was observed between the periosteal hemorrhages and the knot locations, or the types of hanging, or the type of knot, hyoid bone and/or thyroid cartilage fractures was significantly correlated with the hemorrhage. We also analyzed 10 cases of manual and ligature strangulation. In only one of 10 cases, periosteal hemorrhage at both clavicles was observed. Compared with other inner cervical injuries in hangings, periosteal hemorrhage is the most common findings of inner neck lesion. Therefore, clavicular periosteal hemorrhage could be auxiliary feature in diagnosis and interpretation of hanging cases.

Keyword

hanging; clavicular; periosteal; hemorrhage; sternocleidomastoid; muscle

MeSH Terms

Clavicle
Hemorrhage
Hyoid Bone
Ligation
Muscles
Neck
Prospective Studies
Thyroid Cartilage