Hyoid Bone Fractures in Homicide and Suicide - Case Study Example

Cases of hanging, manual strangulation (including throttling and garroting) will be sourced from literature sources together with the respective frequencies of hyoid bone fracture and statistically analysed/compared to draw inferences to the hypothesis stated in this work. In addition, hanging cases deaths and their associated hyoid bone fracture will also be weighted with age.Results: Except for the association of hyoid bone fractures with advancement with age, where the trend was consistent, further comparison of hyoid fractures with different causes of death either showed no difference or the fractures seemed to be randomConclusion and Recommendation: given the importance of the hyoid bone in forensic studies and the randomness of the fractures across different causes of death, further investigation is recommended to establish a clear association.

This may involve the presentation of a clear methodology of identification of the fractures that will be in agreement with the majority of the stakeholders in the field.The hyoid bone is U shaped and located at the fourth cervical vertebrae in the ventral aspect of the neck. It sits between the root of the tongue and the thyroid cartilage. The hyoid is made up of a body, two greater cornua and two lesser cornua (Mukhopadhyay, 2010). The musculature that joins the mandible, styloid process, thyroid cartilage, manubrium and scapulae support the hyoid bone (Levine and Taub, 2006).

The hyoid bone is considered free-floating because it does not articulate with any other bones. The muscular attachments in the anterolateral neck are the suprahyoid and infrahyoid muscles (Levine and Taub, 2006). The suprahyoid muscles serve to connect the hyoid bone to the cranium. The mylohyoid; one of the suprahyoid muscles serves to elevate the tongue and the hyoid during swallowing and speech.