Forensic aspects of rigor mortis at death from general hypothermia

Chudakov A.Yu.; Tolmachev I.A.; Gaivoronskaya V.V.

doi:https://doi.org/10.17116/sudmed20266901162

Recommended articles:

Forensic medical expertise in the cases of sexual crimes: dynamics of indicators and regional features. Forensic Medical Expertise. 2025;(4):5-10

On the forensic significance of cadaveric spots color in death from general hypothermia. Forensic Medical Expertise. 2025;(5):32-38

Improvement of the organization of forensic medical expertise in emergencies through digital technologies. Forensic Medical Expertise. 2025;(6):5-9

The role of primary forensic data in the context of statistical reporting on suicidal mortality. Forensic Medical Expertise. 2025;(6):15-19

The study of the meconial microbiota for the purposes of forensic science and practice. Forensic Medical Expertise. 2025;(6):47-51

The relevance of changing the algorithm of commission forensic examinations in aesthetic plastic surgery. Forensic Medical Expertise. 2026;(1):5-10

Microscopic assessment of cerebral edema in fatal traumatic brain injury during the first hour of the post-traumatic period. Forensic Medical Expertise. 2026;(1):26-29

Forensic definition of «harm to health». Forensic Medical Expertise. 2026;(1):52-54

Analysis of expert diagnostics and identification of sharp objects on putrefactively altered corpses in the Republic of Bashkortostan for 2013—2023. Forensic Medical Expertise. 2026;(2):17-21

Abstract:

Forensic doctors, pathologists and pathophysiologists have long been arguing about the time of the appearance and development of rigor mortis (postmortem contracture of muscle tissue) at death from general hypothermia. There are many theories of the causes and mechanisms of the development of rigor mortis, concepts about the time of its appearance, judgments about the intensity and duration. It is believed that the time of onset, intensity and duration of rigor mortis in the muscles should be influenced by the initial content of muscle glycogen at the time of death. There are a number of opinions about the effect of temperature, glaciation and thawing on the rate and severity of rigor mortis, and the possibility of very slow and very rapid development of rigor mortis upon death from general hypothermia.

Keywords:

cold injury

accidental hypothermia

general acute deep hypothermia

cold immersion

postures of corpses

rigor mortis

postmortem muscle contracture

muscle rigidity

glaciation of the corpse

Sudebno-meditsinskaya ekspertiza

Authors:

Chudakov A.Yu.

Military Order of Zhukov Academy of the National Guard of the Russian Federation

SPIN RSCI: 2822-8027
ORCID: 0000-0003-3443-7908

Tolmachev I.A.

S.M. Kirov Military Medical Academy of the Russian Ministry of Defense

SPIN RSCI: 5794-9030
ORCID: 0000-0002-5893-520X

Gaivoronskaya V.V.

Saint Petersburg State Pediatric Medical University

SPIN RSCI: 1204-1411
ORCID: 0000-0001-6462-462X

Received:

23.07.2025

Accepted:

18.08.2025

Close metadata

References:

Avdeev MI. Forensic Medical Examination of a Corpse. Moscow: Meditsina; 1976. (In Russ.).
Apter BA. Some Issues of General Deep Cooling of Humans. Cold and the Body: Issues of General Deep Cooling of Animals and Humans (Proceedings of the S.M. Kirov Military Medical Academy), vol. 161. Leningrad: Publishing House of the S.M. Kirov Military Medical Academy; 1964. (In Russ.).
Apter BA. The content of sugar in blood and urine and reserve carbohydrates in the liver of those who died from general cold exposure. Cold and the body: issues of general deep cooling in animals and humans (Proceedings of the S.M. Kirov Military Medical Academy), vol. 161. Leningrad: Publishing House of the S.M. Kirov Military Medical Academy; 1964. (In Russ.).
Kildyushov EM, Tumanov EV, Sokolova Z.Yu. Theories of the development of rigor mortis: history and original concept. Forensic Medical Expertise. 2012;55(3):48-51. (In Russ.).
Raisky MI. To the doctrine of the recognition of death from cold//Dissertation for the degree of Doctor of Medicine. Tomsk: Steam printing house of the Siberian printing business partnership; 1907. (In Russ.).
Chudakov AYu, Fetisov VA, Sysoev VE. Biochemical manifestations in cold injury. Abstracts of works on forensic medicine of young scientists of the universities of St. Petersburg. St. Petersburg; 1997. (In Russ.).
Nysten PH. Recherches de Physiologie et de Chimie Pathologiques: Pour Faire Suite a`Celles de Bichat sur la Vie et la Morte. Ed. J.A. Brosson. Paris (France); 1811.
Shigeev VB, Shigeev SV. Forensic Medical Assessment of the Causes and Conditions of Cold Injury. Forensic Medical Expertise. 2017;60(3):42-49. (In Russ.). https://doi.org/10.17116/sudmed201760342-49
Vladimirsky VO. On rigor mortis in a forensic medical sense. Moscow: Publishing House of the 1st Moscow State University; 1930. (In Russ.).
Bryukke E. Textbook of physiology. Op. Ernst Bryukke. Vol. 1. Translated from German by prof. physiology Kazan. Univ. N.O. Kovalevsky, St. Petersburg ‒ Acad. F.V. Ovsyannikov, Novorossiysk ‒ I.M. Sechenov, Moscow ‒ F.P. Sheremetevsky and Kharkov ‒ I.P. Shchelkov; add. and changes made by N.N. Lyubavin according to the 2nd German edition; 1876. (In Russ.).
Desyatov VP. Death from Hypothermia. Tomsk; 1977. (In Russ.).
Wong KC. Physiology and pharmacology of hypothermia. The Western Journal of Medicine.1983;138:227-232.
Utkina TM, Goroschenya YuB, Kinle AF, Lupenko IV. On New Approaches to Differential Diagnosis of Death from General Hypothermia and Acute Ethanol Poisoning. Problems of Identification in the Theory and Practice of Forensic Medicine. Materials of the IV All-Russian Congress of Forensic Medical Experts, part II. Moscow, Vladimir; 1996. (In Russ.).
Osminkin VA, Osminkin SV. Compensatory and Adaptive Reactions of the Respiratory System as Diagnostic Criteria in Histological Research in Forensic Medicine. Forensic Medical Expertise. 2015;58(3):12-16. (In Russ.). https://doi.org/10.17116/sudmed201558312-16
Zverev SP. On deep hypothermia of the body against the background of alcohol intoxication. Cold and the body. Tr. Military-med. S.M. Kirov Academy. Vol. 161. Leningrad; 1964. (In Russ.).
Maistrakh EV. Pathogenesis of acute cooling (freezing) and the mechanism of cold death. Military Medical Journal. 1962;1:31-37. (In Russ.).
Isaev YuS, Galitsky FA, Palai IYa, Zubovich LA. Blood sugar content in fatal hypothermia. Materials of the II All-Russian Congress of Forensic Medicine: abstracts of reports. Irkutsk; 1987. (In Russ.).
Klintsevich GN. General cooling. Diss. Dr. of Medical Sciences. Leningrad; 1973. (In Russ.).
Sidnev BN. On the determination of glycogen in the liver, myocardium, and skeletal muscle in certain types of death. Information Letter from the Bureau of the Main Forensic Medical Examination of the Ministry of Health of the RSFSR. Moscow; 1991. (In Russ.).
Tumasov SA. Death from Cooling in Kamchatka. Dissertation for the Candidate of Medical Sciences. Leningrad; 1974. (In Russ.).
Rusakov AV. On the Content of Sugar in the Liver of Corpses of People Who Died from Various Causes. Archive of Pathology. 1946;1:15-20. (In Russ.).
Sachs JS. Corps. Nature, Forensics, and the Struggle to Pinpoint Time of Death. Basic Books. Cambridge, MA: Perseus Pub; 2002.
Vvedensky NE. Excitation, inhibition and anesthesia. V. 4. Leningrad: PSS: LSU; 1953 (In Russ.).
Streltsov VV. On the effect of sympathetic innervation on the process of cadaveric stiffening of skeletal muscles. Arch Biol Sci. 1931;2-3:172-191. (In Russ.).
Ar’ev TYa. Cold Injury. Pathological Physiology of Extreme Conditions. Ed. by P.D. Gorizontov, N.N. Sirotinin. Moscow: Medgiz; 1973. (In Russ.).
Tishin VS. The content of sugary substances in the liver of corpses in various terminal conditions of the body. Issues of forensic medical examination (collection of articles). Edited by M.I. Avdeev, issue 3. Moscow; 1958. (In Russ.).
Lacassagne A. Compendio De Medicina Legal. Barcelona: Herederos de Juan Gili. 1912;I:608-613.
Chudakov AYu, Tolmachev IA, Gayvoronskaya VV. On the forensic medical significance of the «pose» of the corpse in case of death from general hypothermia. Sudebno-meditsinskaya ekspertiza. 2025;68(1):22-29. (In Russ.).
Kryukov AI. On the Signs of Death from Cold. Bulletin of Public Hygiene, Forensic Medicine, and Practical Medicine. Saint Petersburg: Printing house of the Ministry of Internal Affairs; 1913. (In Russ.).
Shigeev VB, Shigeev SV. Essays on cold injury. Moscow: «August Borg» Printing House; 2016. (In Russ.).
Chudakov AYu. Forensic medical and physiological characteristics of acute general deep accidental hypothermia. Dissertation of the candidate honey. sciences’. St. Petersburg; 1997. (In Russ.).
Chudakov AYu, Gayvoronskaya VV, Romanovsky DYu. To the question of biochemical mechanisms of development of acute general hypothermia. Biochemistry — to medicine. Abstracts of the All-Russian scientific conf., devoted. 110-let. Department of clinical biochemistry and laboratory diagnostics of the VMedA and 100-let. from the birth of Acad. AMN USSR G.E. Vladimirov. St. Petersburg; 2002. (In Russ.).
Coopwood TB, Kennedy JH. Accidental hypothermia. Cryobiology. 1970;7:243-248.
Chudakov AYu, Tolmachev IA, Bozhchenko AP, Gayvoronskaya VV. Death from hypothermia against the background of alcohol intoxication in combination with overwork. In the collection: Actual issues of forensic medicine and law. Collection of scientific and practical articles. Kazan; 2023. (In Russ.).
Chudakov AYu, Galtsev YuV, Gayvoronskaya VV. Death from General Hypothermia (Based on Military Forensic Medical Examination: Selected Issues of Etiology, Thanatogenesis, and Prevention). In the collection: Forensic Medical Examination: Selected Issues of Etiology, Thanatogenesis, and Morphogenesis in Death from General Hypothermia. Collection of Scientific Papers. Edited by prof. A.Yu. Chudakov; St. Petersburg State Pediatric Medical Center. un-T. St. Petersburg, Samara; 2023. (In Russ.).
Bolognesi MP. Protective effects of hypothermia on contractile forse in skeletal muscle. Journal of orthopaedic research. 1996;14(3):390-395.
Chudakov AYu, Isakov VD, Doronin YuG. Acute general hypothermia in water. St. Petersburg: Military Medical Academy named after S.M. Kirov; 1999. (In Russ.).
Chudakov AYu. Mechanisms of the damaging effect of general hypothermia on the human body and the forensic assessment of signs of death from cold. Diss. Dr. med. Sciences’. St. Petersburg; 2000. (In Russ.).
Viter VI, Akimov PA. Analysis of the content of ethanol in blood and urine in case of fatal hypothermia. Medical examination and law. 2012;3:27-28. (In Russ.).
Osminkin VA, Shakirova AV, Osminkin SV. Histological changes of the stomach in case of death from hypothermia at the place of discovery of the corpse and at the hospital stage. Forensic Medical Expertise. 2016;59(6):54-57.(In Russ.). https://doi.org/10.17116/sudmed201659654-57
Tumanov EV, Kildyushov EM. Vishnevsky’s Spots: The History of Discovery and Modern Theories of Origin (Analytical Review). Sudebno-meditsinskaya ekspertiza. 2015;58(3):52-57. (In Russ.). https://doi.org/10.17116/sudmed201558352-57
Korotun VN. Cold Injury and Alcohol Intoxication. Problems of Medical Expertise. Izhevsk. 2007;4:31-33. (In Russ.).
Chudakov AYu, Tolmachev IA, Gayvoronskaya VV, Shimaraeva TN, Rogozin SS. Combined effect of physical overwork with alcohol intoxication on the development of death from acute general deep accidental hypothermia (forensic medical and physiological aspects). Educational and methodological manual. Theory and methodology of professional training and education of adults. St. Petersburg: Institute of Integrative Medicine; 2022. (In Russ.).
Mokuda O, Tanaka H, Hayashi T, Ooka H, Okazaki R, Sakamoto Y. Ehtanol stimulate s glycogenolysis inhibits both glycogenesis via glyconeogenesis and from exogenous glucose in perfused rat liver. Annals of Nutrition and Metabolism. 2004;48(4):276-280.
Chudakov AYu, Bozhchenko AP, Tolmachev IA, Khrustalyova YuA, Gayvoronskaya VV. Diagnostic criteria for the cause of death from exposure to low temperatures in air and water, established using traditional methods of expert research. Sudebno-meditsinskaya ekspertiza. 2024;67(3):29-33.(In Russ.). https://doi.org/10.17116/sudmed20246703129
Ivashkin VT, Telnykh YuV, Kovalev VI, Tulintsev YuV, Chudakov AYu, Zayats LA. Organization of medical care for victims of the Komsomolets nuclear submarine accident. Military Medical Journal. 1989;11:28-32. (In Russ.).
Chudakov AYu. Pathophysiological features of immersion hypothermia. Military science and education — to the city. Mater. scientific and practical conference. Part 2. St. Petersburg; 1997. (In Russ.).
Woodhouse P, Keatinge WR, Coleshaw SR. Factors associated with hypothermia in patients admitted to a group of inner city hospitals. Lancet. 1989;18(2):1201-1205.
Chudakov AYu, Tolmachev IA, Kuznetsova AA. Unusual soft tissue injuries detected in cases of death from general hypothermia. Forensic Medical Expertise. 2025;68(3):20-27. (In Russ.). https://doi.org/10.17116/sudmed20256803120
Frappell P. Ventilatory and metabolic responses to hypoxia during moderate hypothermia in anesthetized rats. Journal of Applied Physiology. 1995;79(1):256-260.
Chudakov A.Yu., Tolmachev I.A., Khrustaleva Yu.A., Bozhchenko A.P. On the issue of forensic medical diagnostics of the cause of death from exposure to low temperatures in water. Sudebnaya meditsina. 2023;9(2):125-134. (In Russ.).
Viter VI, Pudovkin VV, Yurasov VV, Kulbitsky BN, Pokotilenko VG, Filippenkova EI. General hypothermia of the body. Postmortem freezing of the corpse. Moscow; 2012. (In Russ.).
Mallet ML. Pathophysiology of accidental hypothermia. QJM an international journal of medicine. 2002;95:775-785.