A hard-contact wound of the head with the central entrance wound containing a marginal abrasion, soot, and searing on the margins of the wound, and distortion by a large stellate tear. The tearing is caused by the gun discharging in contact with the skin and the hot gases escaping into the tissue between the skin and the skull. No further info.
Fig.1 A hard-contact gunshot wound of the head.
In contact gunshot wounds with bony tissue underlying the injury, the injuries are typically called a stellate wound, where the gases exit the barrel before the projectile. As a result, the gas collides with the bone tissue, resulting in the reflection of the gases. This gas causes the expansion of subcutaneous space and pressure, which results in an explosive injury, tearing, and lacerating the skin and subcutaneous tissue, resulting in the stellate wound. Additionally, the expanding gases also cause a back-splatter of soft-tissue and blood onto the firearm and fingers.
Fig.2 Expansion of subcutaneous space from gas pressure.
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