A Decade of Experimental Research on Blunt Force Cranial Fracture
Authors: Fenton Todd , Isa Mariyam 
Published: June 2021

The objective of this presentation is to present key findings from the past decade of experimental research on pediatric and adult cranial fracture undertaken through a National Institute of Justice (NIJ)‐funded interdisciplinary collaboration between the Michigan State University (MSU) Forensic Anthropology and Orthopaedic Biomechanics Laboratories.

The MSU trauma research initiative developed from collaborations between these laboratories on forensic cases involving blunt force fractures. We were often asked to address questions regarding minimum number and locations of impacts and, in pediatric cases, whether these injuries reflected child abuse. However, our analyses were limited by a lack of systematic research and baseline experimental data on cranial fracture development. In particular, there is a lack of consensus in the literature regarding where fractures form relative to the point of impact (POI). Prominent early research by Gurdjian and colleagues (1950) indicates fractures can initiate peripheral to the POI in areas of out‐bending. However, in a recent study Kroman (2003) claims that cranial fractures initiate only at the POI. Our research over the past decade has addressed this scientific gap through a series of biomechanical impact experiments using pediatric animal and adult human models.

In 2007, our team received an NIJ grant to investigate pediatric cranial fracture through experiments on a porcine model. A key result was that fractures consistently initiated peripheral to the POI. Specimens exhibited multiple, unconnected linear fractures, often in several adjacent bones. These fracture patterns were compared to human cases in the Pediatric Cranial Fracture Registry, a database of pediatric deaths involving blunt cranial fracture developed during our 2011 NIJ grant. The striking similarities between the human and porcine cases suggest that peripheral initiation also occurs in humans. This finding has significant medico‐legal implications, considering the presence of multiple cranial fractures is considered a strong indicator of child abuse. Our research demonstrates that a single impact can produce multiple, non‐intersecting cranial fractures.

Our most recent 2015 NIJ grant investigated adult cranial fractures through a series of filmed impact experiments on whole head cadaver specimens. Video from these experiments revealed that peripheral initiation also occurs in adults. This has implications for the assessment of impact location: in some cases, linear fractures occurred peripherally with no damage at the POI.

This research represents a major shift in understanding of cranial fracture development. The results indicate that the assumption that cranial fractures only initiate at the POI is not only flawed, but could also lead to inaccurate assessments of locations and numbers of impact. Finally, this work provides a template for future experimental trauma research, an area the field of forensic anthropology has only begun to explore.

Support or Funding Information

These projects were supported by the National Institute of Justice. The opinions, findings, and conclusions expressed in this presentation are the authors' and do not necessarily reflect the views of the Department of Justice.

This abstract is from the Experimental Biology 2019 Meeting. There is no full text article associated with this abstract published in The FASEB Journal.