Postmortem of Drowning

Postmortem of Drowning : Important points

(Basics of postmortem is already discussed on this page in separate post)

I was asked to tell what are special consideration if a postmortem of drowned body is to be conducted. Especially if it is semi decomposed.
Let discuss special points of a drowned body which is not decomposed first.
Our concern is whether drowning is antemortem or postmortem.

The special sample which has to b sent is any long bone in formaline.Sternum is preffered .It is to detect diatoms in marrow which is special feature of drowning.
Multiple small sections from different lobes of lungs are also important histologically. so send then in formaline as wel

For a semi decomposed body its useless to send any decomposed tissue . Send long bones in anycase .try sending intact bone which are not fractured . Once decay process starts it is not possible to detect any significant changes at cellular level. so no point in sending decomposed tissue .

Now following are some points for antemortem drowning . (copied from internet)

Features of antemortem drowning-
a. Fine, white, leathery, copious froth or foam tinged with blood seen at the mouth and nostrils (Froth is of lasting nature and large in quantity), D/D Opium poisoning, snake bite poisoning, Putrefaction.

b. Cadaveric spasm in hands– foreign bodies like grass, gravel, sticks, weeds, twigs or leaves may be found firmly in hands.

c. Finding of diatoms by microscopic examination of tissues from brain, liver and bone marrow of long bones such as femur, tibia, and humerus or sternum.

d. Presence of water in stomach and intestines

e. The voluminous water logged lungs

f. The presence of fine froth in lungs and air passages

Features which are not indicative of antemortem drowning, but can be found in both antemortem and postmortem drowning:

a. Washerwoman’s hand- The skin of the hands or feet shows a bleached, corrugated and sodden appearance.

b. Cutis anserina=goose skin- granular appearance of the skin caused by contraction of Erector pilorum muscles are found on the anterior surface of the body, particularly the extremities. It can occur in the living when the skin comes in contact with cold water. It may occur on submersion of the body in cold water immediately after death, while the muscles were still warm and irritable. It is also produced by rigor mortis of erector muscles.

c. Mud or sand may be found under the finger nails.

d. Decomposition sets in early in case the body is taken out of water.