title: Self-mutilation.
abstract: Self-mutilation presents great diagnostic and therapeutic difficulties and the financial expenditure involved in its treatment is considerable. The ten patients comprising the present investigation were on average hospitalized for 314 days and were operated on 15 times. Only two can be considered to have recovered. Greater knowledge of these patients and closer cooperation between the surgeon, psychiatrist, general practitioner and social authorities should make their treatment more effective.
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D011379:Prognosis; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D012652:Self Mutilation / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000523:psychology* / Q000628:therapy