Manual Strangulation (Throttling)
Definition
Asphyxia produced by application of the assailant's hands to the neck, compressing carotid arteries, jugular veins, and trachea. Produces fingertip bruising and crescentic fingernail abrasions on the neck, hyoid or thyroid cartilage fractures, and strap-muscle haemorrhage.
- Mechanism
- Assailant's hands compress carotids, jugulars, trachea
- Skin findings
- Fingertip bruising, crescentic fingernail abrasions
- Internal findings
- Hyoid or thyroid cartilage fracture
- Also seen
- Strap-muscle haemorrhage
Common questions
Why are crescentic fingernail abrasions significant in a manual strangulation autopsy?+
Their curved shape and placement match a grasping hand rather than a blunt object or ligature, so they help confirm that hands, not a rope or cord, produced the injury, and their position can indicate whether the assailant faced the victim or approached from behind.
Does absence of hyoid or thyroid cartilage fracture rule out fatal strangulation?+
No, particularly in younger victims whose laryngeal cartilage is more elastic and less prone to fracture under the same compressive force that would break it in an older person, so a negative finding does not exclude strangulation as the cause of death.
Related terms
- Anatomy Act 1832
- UK statute prompted by the Burke and Hare murders that legalised use of unclaimed bodies for medical education, removing the economic incentive...
- Burking
- A combined method of homicide by simultaneous smothering (nose and mouth occlusion) and chest compression, preventing thoracic expansion. Named for William Burke...
- Crescentic Fingernail Abrasion
- A crescent-shaped skin abrasion produced by a fingernail during manual strangulation, with concave margin pointing toward the applied finger. Distinguishes manual throttling...
- Frenulum Tear
- A tear in the frenulum labii (the midline fold connecting the upper lip to the gum), produced by forceful smothering pressure; present...
- Gag-and-Bind Asphyxia
- Asphyxia produced by oropharyngeal or nasal obstruction from a gag combined with physical restraint preventing airway clearance; encountered in robbery, kidnapping, and...
- SIDS (Sudden Infant Death Syndrome)
- A diagnosis of exclusion under the AAP definition: sudden unexpected death of an infant under one year, occurring apparently during sleep, unexplained...
- Smothering
- Asphyxia by occlusion of the external respiratory orifices (nose and mouth) without neck compression. May produce minimal or no external marks; internal...