Ligature strangulation in 2001-2020 in the materials of the Jagiellonian University Department of Forensic Medicine, Kraków

Aim: The aim of the study was to analyze and compare the most common post-mortem changes which can be found in the body after ligature strangulation and compare it with the most recent literature. Materials and methods: autopsy protocols from years 2001–2020 gathered in the Department of Forensic Medicine in Kraków were investigated. 37 cases of certain and possible strangulation were found and analysed. Prevalence of ligature strangulation, age, sex, information concerning perpetrator and post-mortem changes were considered. Results: we found and analysed 37 cases, however only in 16 cases the certain cause of death was ligature strangulation. in the remaining 18 cases the mechanism of death was not precisely defined. in 3 cases advanced late post-mortem changes disturbed establishment of certain identification. Women constituted 87.5% of all victims, while men 12.5%. among 16 certain ligature strangulations we analysed the most important post-mortem changes. Both subconjunctival hemorrhagic petechiae and facial skin petechiae were observed in 93.8% of the cases, laryngeal or hyoid fracture in 56.3%, and hemorrhages in neck muscles were detected in 87.5% of the cases. Conclusions: The most frequent post-mortem changes after ligature strangulation include subconjunctival petechiae, facial skin petechiae and hemorrhages in the neck muscles which are convergent with the data found in literature. The autopsy may not indicate the circumstance of strangulation.