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MECHANICAL ASPHYXIA: A LITERATURE REVIEW AND CURRENT APPROACH IN FORENSIC SCIENCE

Javier Ivan Baltazar Ramos (1)

https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5408-6693

Guadalupe Melo Santiesteban (1)

https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0064-1038

Patrícia Beatriz Denis Rodríguez (2)

https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8521-7705

Carlos Alberto Jiménez Baltazar (2)

https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8775-9148

Edmundo Denis Rodríguez (3)

https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9110-2613

(1) Universidad Veracruzana, Instituto de Medicina Forense, Boca del Rio, Veracruz, México. (autor principal)

(2) Universidad Veracruzana, Departamento de Medicina Legal, Boca del Rio, Veracruz, México (autor principal)

(3) Universidad Veracruzana, Departamento de Criminología, Boca del Río, Veracruz, México (autor principal)

E-mail para correspondencia: eddenis@uv.mx

RESUMO

Introdução: O termo asfixia é definido como a suspensão ou dificuldade na respiração. No âmbito das ciências forenses, trata-se de uma troca ineficiente de gases respiratórios com redução do fluxo sanguíneo, o que diminui a disponibilidade de oxigênio para os tecidos periféricos. Material e métodos: Trata-se de uma revisão bibliográfica sobre asfixias em geral, com foco nas asfixias mecânicas. Após a análise do material, foi realizada uma discussão coerente do tema e uma análise das novas abordagens em torno do diagnóstico e confirmação como causas de morte por asfixias mecânicas nas ciências forenses. Resultados: A busca no Pubmed + BVS + Google Acadêmico resultou em 261 artigos nos últimos 5 anos sobre o tema, dos quais foram eliminados artigos repetidos, sem contexto forense, incompletos, avaliando-se apenas 50 artigos eletrônicos e 10 textos clássicos de anatomia, fisiologia, fisiopatologia e ciências forenses. Discussão: A asfixiologia é a área responsável pelo estudo de todos os procedimentos que impedem a respiração normal de um indivíduo, procedimentos que resultam na morte por falta de oxigênio; portanto, a asfixiologia é o estudo conjunto dos comportamentos, lesões e sinais presentes no cadáver. Dois aspectos-chave são a forma de morte e os meios empregados para cometê-la, avaliados nas asfixias mecânicas. Conclusões: Encontramos várias classificações sobre as asfixias, tantas quanto os autores que tratam do tema ou os textos de referência existentes; acreditamos que as asfixias mecânicas podem ser agrupadas em 4 tipos gerais: sufocação, estrangulamento, submersão e outras asfixias posicionais ou traumáticas, que devem ser avaliadas à luz de novas ferramentas fornecidas pelas ciências médicas.

Palavras-chave: asfixia mecânica, sufocação, submersão, laço, sufocação.

ABSTRACT

Introduction: The term asphyxia is defined as the suspension or difficulty in breathing; in forensic sciences, it is an inefficient exchange of respiratory gases with reduced blood flow, which decreases the availability of oxygen for peripheral tissues. Material and methods: This is a bibliographic review of asphyxia in general with a focus on mechanical asphyxia; once the material was analyzed, a coherent discussion of the subject and analysis of new approaches to diagnosis and confirmation as causes of death by mechanical asphyxia in forensic sciences was carried out. Results: The search in Pubmed + BVS + Google Scholar yielded 261 articles in the last 5 years, of which repeated articles, without forensic context, incomplete, were eliminated, evaluating only 50 electronic articles and 10 classic texts of anatomy, physiology, physiopathology and forensic sciences Discussion: Asphyxiology is the branch of asphyxiology in the forensic sciences.  Asphyxiology is the branch in charge of the study of all the procedures that prevent the normal respiration of an individual, procedures that end life due to lack of oxygen; therefore, asphyxiology is the study as a whole of the behaviors, lesions and signs present in the corpse; two key aspects are the form of death and the means used to commit it evaluated in mechanical asphyxia. Conclusions: We found several classifications on asphyxias, as much as authors deal with the subject or as much as there are reference texts; we believe that mechanical asphyxias can be grouped into 4 general types: suffocation, strangulation, submersion and other positional or traumatic asphyxias, which should be evaluated in the light of new tools provided by the medical sciences.

Key words: mechanical asphyxia, suffocation, submersion, strangulation, suffocation.

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Tags: asfixia mecânica laço lazo mechanical asphyxia sofocación Strangulation submersão submersion suffocation SUFOCAÇÃO sumersión