The changing pattern of penetrating torso trauma in KwaZulu/Natal--a clinical and pathological review.
The number of patients who sustained penetrating torso trauma and were admitted to King Edward VIII Hospital and the surgical intensive care unit were reviewed over 10- and 5-year periods respectively. For the last 4 months of 1992, a comparison was made between victims of trauma admitted to hospital and those whose bodies were taken directly to the South African Police medicolegal laboratories in Gale Street, Durban, where the majority of medicolegal autopsies in the Durban metropolitan area are performed. The total number of hospital admissions has not changed during the last decade, but the aetiology of injury has altered considerably. Stab wounds have declined by 30% whereas gunshot wounds have increased by more than 800%. The ratio of stab to gunshot wounds admitted to the intensive care unit reversed within the 5-year period 1987-1992. Direct admission to the mortuary was three times as common in cases of gunshot compared with stab wounds. The hospital mortality rate for gunshot wounds was 8 times that for stab wounds. The establishment of dedicated trauma centres is essential for the treatment of these injuries, and strategies to control the use of firearms are vital.
Muckart
D J
DJ
Department of Surgery, University of Natal, Durban.
Meumann
C
C
Botha
J B
JB
D000007:Abdominal Injuries / Q000401:mortality*; D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D002648:Child; D003422:Critical Care; D005260:Female; D006760:Hospitalization / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D013019:South Africa / Q000453:epidemiology; D013898:Thoracic Injuries / Q000401:mortality*; D014948:Wounds, Gunshot / Q000401:mortality*; D014951:Wounds, Stab / Q000401:mortality*