Skip to main content

Chop wounds of the scalp and skull from a hatchet. Chop injury represents a unique category of sharp force trauma, although, in reality, its characteristic features often have both blunt and sharp qualities; more accurately, then, chop injuries should be viewed at the intersection of both. Chop injuries are as unmistakable as they are fatal, their dramatic appearance demonstrative of their devastating effects. These injuries are typically caused by heavy/dense, unwieldy weapons with a sharp cutting surface that are expressly used to cause serious physical injury and/or death. Examples of such weapons include axes, meat cleavers, machetes, and hatchets, among others. A typical chop wound is large and gaping, with a broad and deep exposure of the soft tissues and sometimes bone, occasionally with avulsion of muscle.

Fig.1 Chop wounds of the scalp.

Latest posts

Fig.1 The propeller wounds begin on the face and continue down the neck onto the left shoulder and left upper arm.

A man drove his watercraft into the port side of a boat

| Accident | No Comments
A man drove his watercraft into the port side of a boat. The propeller wounds begin on the…
Fig.1 Fatal chop wounds on the side of the head from an axe.

Fatal chop wounds on the side of the head from an axe

| Homicide | No Comments
This individual has fatal chop wounds on the side of the head from an axe. Chop wounds are…
Fig.1 Protrusion of the tongue on this decomposing individual.

Protrusion of the tongue on this decomposing individual

| Decomposition | No Comments
Notice the protrusion of the tongue on this decomposing individual. The rate of decomposition depends on the temperature,…
Fig.1 Postmortem animal destruction of a corpse.

Postmortem animal destruction of a corpse

| Accident, Animal Scavenging | No Comments
A broad range of carnivores can be involved in the postmortem destruction of corpses located in open spaces…