Forensic problems in practice. VII.--Asphyxia

In summary, asphyxial deaths and deaths due to pressure on the neck form a considerable proportion of homicides in Britain, as well as many suicides and some accidents, as in infancy and in masochistic practices. Although the detailed examination of fatal asphyxia is the province of the coroner's pathologist, the general practitioner and the casualty officer are usually the first medical men to have the opportunity of detecting the external signs of such cases. Unfortunately, very many instances in the past have revealed that the clinician's examination of dead persons is so superficial that numerous cases of trauma to the neck (and even florid asphyxia) have gone unnoticed. A rapid examination of the skin, conjunctivae and neck takes but a few seconds and, if done routinely, would save subsequent embarrassment to the doctors concerned.