Blind penetrating wound of the skull by a nail

When investigating various crimes, suicides, and accidents, the question of the capabilities of the human body to preserve vital functions in the presence of an injury may be important. Of particular difficulty is the issue whether a person could perform independent actions despite having a severe brain injury. Thus, the accumulation of practical expert and clinical observations characterizing the body’s capability to perform active targeted actions despite the presence of fatal wounds in various organs is of considerable practical interest.

This study described the morphological features of damage to head structures in a patient hit by a building fastener (a metal nail, 15 cm long) into the cranial cavity. The morphological changes in the anatomical structures along the wound channel had typical features: perforated fractures of the skull with a cone-shaped expanding defect of the inner walls of the perforated fracture. Brain structures were damaged along the wound channel. The stab wound was blind. The possibility of performing complex independent actions in the case of fatal brain damage is possible only with a comprehensive assessment of forensic medical examination data of the corpse and case materials.