ABSTRACT
Injuries can occur anywhere on the body, in any age group, and each has a different mechanism of causation. By far the longest part of the external examination is the recording of the presence of injuries. Injuries are traditionally divided into five groups: the bruise; the abrasion; the laceration; the incised wound; and the burn. The groups can be subjectively subdivided into ‘fresh’ injuries and ‘old’ injuries. An abrasion is the most superficial of the blunt trauma injuries. Abrasions can be formed by the application of a force in either a tangential direction or a vertical direction. Abrasions may be found in combination with other blunt trauma injuries such as lacerations or bruises. A laceration is a blunt trauma injury with a resulting tear to the involved tissue. In relation to the external examination, the abrasion should be described within the fresh or old injuries section of the report/statement, depending on its apparent subjective age.
