Research has found that the most common mechanisms of injury to victims of intimate-partner violence (IPV) is being struck with a hand. The use of weapons other than household objects is apparently rare, but when weapons are used there is a higher risk of death. Although strangulation is under-diagnosed by health-care providers, it is experienced by over half of IPV victims. Most IPV victims suffer multiple mechanisms of injury, and many have multiple injury locations. The head, neck, and face are the most common locations of IPV-related injury, with high levels of sensitivity and moderate levels of specificity associated with these locations. Soft-tissue injury is the most common type of injury suffered by IPV victims. Only one-third of sexual assault victims in the context of IPV experience injury to the genitalia. Very few studies link mechanism of injury among IPV victims to the type and location of injury. The research on acute injury patterns of IPV victims suggests that clinicians should have an increased suspicion that IPV has occurred whenever a woman presents with facial injuries, particularly in the absence of a known specific cause such as a motor vehicle crash. Although facial injuries are the most common injuries in IPV, they have low specificity; therefore, all injured women should be screened for IPV regardless of the location of their injuries. Researchers and health-care professionals should be consistent in thoroughly documenting IPV-related injuries by using correct forensic terminology. 1 table and 52 references