Lesões por instrumentos de ação cortante em cadáveres decompostos e esqueletizados: limites diagnósticos e protocolo integrado de exame

Abstract

Background: putrefaction, soft-tissue loss and taphonomic change can erase, distort or mimic sharp-force injuries. In skeletonized remains, bone lesions may retain useful information but cannot, in isolation, establish vitality, identify an individual weapon or reconstruct the event. Objective: to review findings relevant to the diagnosis of incised, puncture, stab and chop injuries in decomposed or skeletonized bodies and to propose a defensible examination sequence. Methods: narrative review with a structured search of PubMed/MEDLINE and SciELO, supplemented by backward citation searching and DOI verification, through 22 September 2026. The question followed the PCC framework: decomposed or skeletonized bodies; diagnosis of sharp-force trauma; medicolegal and forensic-anthropological context. Results: no isolated feature is pathognomonic. Skin morphology, hemorrhage, tissue reaction, fresh-bone behavior, kerf profile, striations and imaging must be integrated with scene findings, clothing, wound track, anatomical distribution and alternative explanations. The term perimortem indicates temporal compatibility with bone that retained fresh properties; it does not prove vitality or causation of death. Microscopy, micro-CT and immunohistochemistry may add information but remain dependent on validation, preservation and examiner expertise. Conclusion: robust reporting separates observations from inferences, alternatives and limitations, grades the strength of the opinion and acknowledges indeterminacy when decomposition has destroyed discriminatory evidence.