What does intravascular blood discoloration result from?

Intravascular blood discoloration occurs primarily due to postmortem hypostasis of blood. After death, gravity causes the blood to settle in the lowest parts of the body, leading to pooling and resulting in a dark discoloration of the affected areas. This phenomenon is a typical postmortem change and is one of the key indicators that forensic investigators look for when assessing a deceased individual.

This process differs from excessive concentrations of bilirubin, which typically results in jaundice—a condition more related to liver function than postmortem changes. Irregular tearing of tissue would contribute to visible injuries but does not specifically lead to the systematic discoloration associated with blood pooling. The decomposition of fats pertains to a different biological process that may occur later in decomposition but is not directly related to the discoloration of blood specifically.