title: Gunshot wounds of the female breast: a risk for intra-abdominal injury.
abstract: We report the results of a clinical study of female patients sustaining gunshot wounds to a breast. Thirteen homicides were reviewed by the Fulton County Medical Examiner. A prospective series of patients treated by the Grady Memorial Hospital Trauma Service included eight additional cases. Ten (48%) of the combined series of 21 patients had significant intra-abdominal injury; of these, five (24%) had injuries confined to the abdomen as a result of a missile striking a breast. A wound pattern consisting of a superior breast entrance wound, an inferior breast exit wound, and an inframammary thoracoabdominal reentry wound was noted in five patients, four of whom had intra-abdominal injuries and three only intra-abdominal injuries. Careful examination for this wound pattern should alert the clinician to the possibility of intra-abdominal injury. One should anticipate a 50% incidence of intra-abdominal injury in female patients sustaining gunshot wounds to a breast.
authors.affiliation: Department of Surgery, Emory University School of Medicine, Atlanta, GA.
authors.forename: B M
authors.initials: BM
authors.lastname: Renz
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Hanzlick
mesh_terms: D000007:Abdominal Injuries / Q000473:pathology*; D000328:Adult; D001940:Breast / Q000293:injuries* / Q000473:pathology; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D011446:Prospective Studies; D014948:Wounds, Gunshot / Q000473:pathology*