The postmortem report plays an important role in sudden and accidental death, because only through this report the real cause of death can be known. Let us tell you what is written in a postmortem report.

The investigation into the rape and murder of a junior doctor at Kolkata's RG Kar Hospital is continuing. Meanwhile, many misleading claims were being made on social media regarding the post-mortem reports.

Meanwhile, many questions must be coming in the minds of people regarding the postmortem report, why is so much importance given to that report, how is it made and what is written in it? If you also have some such questions in your mind, then let us tell you today what kind of information comes out through the postmortem report. For this, we have talked to Dr Vivek Madhur, currently working as Specialist Medical Officer of Sadar Hospital, Lohardaga, Jharkhand. He has given a lot of information related to postmortem, let us know.

What is a post mortem report?

Postmortem (autopsy) is a special type of surgical procedure. In which a detailed examination of the dead body is done, so that it can be ascertained what is the reason and how the death occurred. If a person dies in a criminal incident, accident or suspicious reasons, then his dead body undergoes postmortem under legal supervision. In this, the body is dissected. Its findings are recorded, which also includes forensic investigation. If needed, DNA tests are also done, which also serve as evidence in legal investigation.

What is written in the post-mortem report?

Giving detailed information in this regard, Dr Vivek Madhur, formerly working in the Department of Bone, Joint and Nerve Diseases at RIMS (Ranchi) and currently Specialist Medical Officer at Sadar Hospital, Lohardaga, said that postmortem is a surgical procedure, in which the external and internal organs of the dead body are also examined. He further said that the cause of death such as sudden accident, disease, criminal incident etc. is written in the postmortem report. If the deceased had any disease, then detailed information about the nature, extent, magnitude and complexity of that disease and the fact is also written in the report. Along with the cause of death, the time of death is also written in that report. Apart from this, information about the identity of the dead body, their age, gender, colour, address etc. is also given in that report.

There are two stages of post mortem

Doctor Madhur told that there are two stages of post mortem. In the first external examination, the development of the body, nutrition of the body, age, sex, presence of cadaveric cramps and their category, skin colour, skin breaks, boils, injury marks, swelling, all the pores of the body etc. are examined with utmost care.

In the second stage of internal examination, the body is first cut open from the chin to the pubic joint, the skin and muscles are removed and the sternum is separated. After this, the intestinal membrane and the pleural membrane are thoroughly examined under a microscope. After that, the postmortem report is prepared based on the cause of death.

How is a post mortem done?

He said that during the postmortem, some organs must be examined closely. These examinations can take several weeks to complete. Great care is taken of the external appearance of the deceased. Most of the incisions are hidden by clothes or hair. Once an internal autopsy is completed, the body is reconstructed by stitching it back together. If the death is under suspicious circumstances and there is a suspicion that the death was due to poisoning, then the viscera is examined. While preserving the viscera, parts of the liver, spleen and kidneys are kept from the dead body. Also, the fluids present in the body are preserved. In some cases, consent has to be taken from a relative or close person of the deceased before doing this. In legal matters, it is mandatory to take permission from the court.

Image credit- Herzindagi