Novel methods for determining the vital reaction in injured skin

The authors devised two new methods for determining the vital reaction of injured skin and tentatively termed them Method I and Method II. Method I is based on the determination of "fibrin-forming ability" of slices of injured skin in the presence of added fibrinogen. Method II is based on the measurement of the albumin content in the injured skin by rocket-immunoelectrophoresis. These methods have the following characteristics: Both are able to distinguish ante-mortem from post-mortem wounds, even in fresh vital wounds. The fibrin-forming ability in vital wounds undergoes a post-mortem change, and this can be used to distinguish ante-from post-mortem wounds for 2 days after death. On the other hand, the albumin content of wounds is virtually unchanged post-mortem until one week after death. Method II is therefore applicable even to slightly decomposed materials one week after death. It is not recommended that this method be used for the wound in the post-mortem hypostatic area. Regarding the technique, both methods are relatively easy. Both methods are able to estimate the wound age until about 2 days after injury (during wound healing). A more reliable estimate of wound age is possible by using Method I together with Method II.