Abstract

TOVAR-FRANCO, Jairo Alfonso; APARICIO-CASTELLANOS, Diana Constanza  and  HENRIQUEZ HIGUERA, Luisa Fernanda. Mandibular reversibility of the cadaverous stiffness by chemical means in a rat model. Univ. Sci. [online]. 2009, vol.14, n.1, pp.58-70. ISSN 0122-7483.

The main problem that a dentist faces when collecting postmortem evidence is the buccal opening, which is limited by the cadaverous stiffness phenomenon that begins 3 hours after death. This phenomenon persists until it is destroyed by the late autolytic processes of decomposition, after 36 hours postmortem. Objective. To analyze the feasibility of accelerating the reversion of the mandibular cadaverous stiffness by means of chemical substances to facilitate the buccal opening. Materials and methods. We assessed substances capable of altering the pH, chelating intramuscular calcium or inducing proteolysis of the actin-myosin complex of the masticatory muscles with cadaverous stiffness in Wistar rats. Results. We found that mandibular cadaverous stiffness in Wistar rats appears after 2.5 hours of death. After 3.5 hours, once the rigidity was established, we carried out infiltrations with EDTA (20 mM), NaHCO₃ (50 µM), Na₂CO₃ (50 µM) and papain (10 µM). NaHCO₃ and Na₂CO₃ solutions significantly increased (p<0.05) the reversion speed (mm/h) from hour 5, in 108% and 100%, respectively. Based on the results of this assay, we doubled the concentration of NaHCO₃ and assessed a 1:1 mixture of NaHCO₃ and Na₂CO₃ without finding significant differences with the NaHCO₃ and Na₂CO₃ prior assays. Conclusion. NaHCO₃ solution (50 µM) allows a reversal of buccal opening enough to collect evidence between 5 and 5.5 hours.

Keywords : buccal opening; cadaverous stiffness reversibility; masticatory muscles; rigor mortis.

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