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What is Puppe's rule?

Mason Gerhold
Mason Gerhold
2025-10-13 06:15:28
Count answers : 22
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As early as 1903, it was pointed out by Puppe that it is possible to determine the sequence of injuries in skull fractures caused by blows to the head: the second fracture ends at the point where a break in cohesion is already present. This finding was confirmed by tests carried out by other forensic pathologists. It soon became clear that the rule also applies to gunshot fractures. In the case of gunshot injuries, it is even possible to make more detailed statements. However, the applicability of Puppe's rule is limited by incomplete ossification or ossification disorders. The priority rule is also found in English-language literature, but without the name of the author who first described it.
Jacynthe Bogisich
Jacynthe Bogisich
2025-10-09 00:14:40
Count answers : 26
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Puppe's rule applies when two blunt force injuries with intersecting fractures are visible. It states that the fractures from the first injury develop normally, while those caused by the subsequent injury are stopped where the structure of the skull has already been deployed. If a fracture related to an entrance hole passes another entrance hole and is not terminated, the entrance hole causing that fracture must have been inflicted first. Other autopsy findings may also provide evidence on the sequence of gunshot wounds.
Nina Gulgowski
Nina Gulgowski
2025-09-27 14:16:00
Count answers : 20
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His most well-known discovery is the Puppe's rule, which allows the sequence of impacts of a blunt object on the human skull to be determined by means of an analysis of the fracture edges. Puppe was the first to point out that it is possible to determine the sequence of injuries in skull fractures caused by blows to the head because the second fracture ends at the point where a break in cohesion is already present. Even though this rule is true for all blunt injuries to the skull, it is of particular importance in gunshot wounds. The fracture lines created by every other shot extend only up to the fractured lines produced by the previous shot without continuing over them. Puppe proposed the rule in the paper Traumatische Todesursachen in Gerichtliche Medizin in 1903.