What Skin Tags Along an Abrasion Can Show About Direction

An abrasion can preserve details of how a surface moved across the skin. Saukko and Knight describe brush abrasions caused by rubbing contact, including falls and glancing impacts. Such contact can create furrows and push small fragments of the outer skin toward the end of the scrape.

Close examination may add directional evidence

The location of these skin tags can help an examiner infer the direction of movement. The authors note that magnification may be needed to see them. A photograph showing only the general outline of the abrasion may omit the detail needed for that assessment.

The pattern addresses the relative movement at the skin surface. Identifying the event that produced it requires the location of the injury and the surrounding evidence. In reviewing a directional claim, the examination notes and close photographs can show which observed features support it.

Saukko and Knight, Knight’s Forensic Pathology, 3rd ed. (2004), chapter 4, p. 139