Which statement defines perimortem injury?

• A. Injury that occurred after death
• B. Injury that occurred at or near the time of death.
• C. Injury caused by autopsy
• D. Injury unrelated to death

Answer: (B)

Perimortem injuries are those that happen around the moment of death, when the person is still alive or just dying. This timing means the bone is still fresh and retains its normal elasticity, so the fracture patterns often look like injuries seen in living people—edges that may be torn or bleeding and sometimes bending or hinging at the break. If a injury occurs well before death (ante-mortem), you’d expect healing signs on the bone. If it happens after death (postmortem), the bone is dry and brittle, and fractures tend to be clean, with no signs of a vascular response. So the statement that defines perimortem injury is that it occurred at or near the time of death.