Open AccessCivilian gunshot extremity fractures with neurologic injury
Author(s) -
Beidas Omar E,
Rehman Saqib
Publication year - 2011
Publication title -
orthopaedic surgery
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.666
H-Index - 23
eISSN - 1757-7861
pISSN - 1757-7853
DOI - 10.1111/j.1757-7861.2011.00125.x
Subject(s) - medicine , concomitant , trauma center , incidence (geometry) , gunshot injury , surgery , injury prevention , poison control , retrospective cohort study , gunshot wound , injury severity score , population , emergency medicine , physics , environmental health , optics
Objective: To verify the hypothesis that neurologic injuries are less prevalent in civilian gunshot injuries than that reported in the military literature, and are more likely to occur with concomitant fracture. Methods: In order to investigate the incidence and patient variables of gunshot injury with neurologic injury, a retrospective chart review was performed at a single urban trauma center over a five‐year period. Results: One thousand eight hundred and fifty‐one patients with gunshot injuries were treated at our center over the five year study period. Of these, 895 patients (48%) had involvement of at least one extremity and 382 (21%) had concomitant fractures. Seventy‐four had concomitant neurologic injury. There was a statistically significant difference of 14% (53/382) and 4% (21/513) ( P < 0.0001) between the group with fracture (53 patients) and the group without fracture (21 patients), respectively, in the occurrence of neurologic insult. Conclusion: This incidence of neurologic injuries in civilian gunshot injuries is lower than that previously reported in the military population and the presence of a fracture is clearly an additional risk factor for neurologic injury.