Lethal 'brush abrasions'

Abstract

Brush abrasions are superficial injuries that occur when a body has been dragged over a rough surface. A 38-year-old male cyclist was dragged, by a truck that had collided with him, for a number of kilometres before being left behind. Post-mortem examination revealed numerous brush abrasions that were associated with abraded injuries in the deeper tissues from contact with the road surface. Death was due to closed head injury and haemorrhage from multiple severe injuries from dragging. The case shows the usefulness of patterned abrasions in helping to determine the sequence of lethal events in such collisions. It also demonstrates that brush abrasions may sometimes be associated with similar but deeper underlying injuries that arise from the same mechanism. Dragging injuries can be lethal if there is extension into deeper tissues and vasculature.