MRTS Technical Procedures 1 Practice Exam

Pooling of blood in dependent parts after death occurs because circulation has ceased and gravity pulls blood toward the lowest areas of the body. This pooling is described by the term hypostasis. It denotes the deposition of blood in dependent tissues and vessels, and it’s the process behind what is seen as postmortem lividity. The visible stain from the pooled blood is called livor mortis, which is the discoloration that results from hypostasis. Dehydration and imbibition don’t describe this postmortem pooling—dehydration is fluid loss, and imbibition is fluid absorption by tissues.