Study Of Unknown Dead Bodies Brought For Post Mortem In Tertiary Hospital

Background: Medico legal autopsies are conducted in India in two circumstances: cases where a person has died because of unnatural circumstances and where the body of the deceased is unidentified. The present study relates to the latter of the two aforementioned circumstances, i.e. where the dead body is not identified. Methodology: In present descriptive prospective study the size and magnitude of problems regarding unidentified bodies. Also the profile of unidentified dead bodies such as age, cause of death, post-mortem interval, manner of death, seasonal trends, area (urban or rural), place from where the body was recovered was studied Results: Total 1919 bodies were brought to us of which 169 cases were selected. The mean age of the patients was 44.82±14.83 years with male predominance. Most of the cases were identified on the basis of the clothes belonging and 16.57% bodies were brought from the rural areas. Majority of the unidentified bodies were found in the autumn season (28.99 %). Maximum unidentified dead bodies were discovered at religious places (n= 64, 37.87 %). In the present study, most deaths were natural, n=114 (67.46 %) and the majority of autopsies were performed between 4 and 6 days (n= 73, 43.20%) Regarding the cause of death according to police records in the present study, it was determined that there were the most cases of illness/ diseased condition (n=55). Conclusion: Unknown/unclaimed should be presented for autopsy forthwith without any delay so that decomposition and other artifacts do not set in and obscure the findings of the postmortem examination