title: A review of stab wound injuries at a tertiary trauma centre in Singapore: are self-inflicted ones less severe?
abstract: BACKGROUND
  In Singapore, as strict laws are a strong deterrent against armed violence, little is known about the epidemiology of penetrating stab wound injuries. Our study aimed to investigate the epidemiology of stab wound injuries at a major trauma centre in Singapore and determine if there was a difference in severity between self-inflicted stab wound (SI) injuries and those inflicted by others (IO).
  
  
  METHODS
  We retrospectively reviewed all penetrating injuries at Tan Tock Seng Hospital, and identified and categorised all stab wound injuries as SI or IO. Basic demographic information, injury severity characteristics and outcome data were compared between these two groups. A review of all mortalities was performed, including recording the causes of death.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Between 2005 and 2010, there were a total of 149 stab wound injuries, of which 24 (16.1%) were SI and 125 (83.9%) were IO injuries. Patients tended to be young (mean age 34.1 ± 14.2 years). The mean Injury Severity Score was significantly different between the SI and IO groups (8.8 ± 6.5 vs. 12.3 ± 8.1; p = 0.03). In both groups, the majority underwent an operative procedure (83.3% vs. 85.6%) and had an average hospital stay of four days.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The study confirms our hypothesis that SI injuries tend to be less severe than IO injuries and are more likely to occur at home rather than at a public area. This finding may be useful in the triage of patients with stab wound injuries.
authors.affiliation: Trauma Services, Department of General Surgery, Tan Tock Seng Hospital, Singapore.
authors.forename: Jeffrey J
authors.initials: JJ
authors.lastname: Leow
authors.affiliation: Trauma Services, Department of General Surgery, Tan Tock Seng Hospital, Singapore.
authors.forename: Pravin
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Lingam
authors.affiliation: Trauma Services, Department of General Surgery, Tan Tock Seng Hospital, Singapore.
authors.forename: Vanessa W
authors.initials: VW
authors.lastname: Lim
authors.affiliation: Trauma Services, Department of General Surgery, Tan Tock Seng Hospital, Singapore.
authors.forename: Karen T S
authors.initials: KT
authors.lastname: Go
authors.affiliation: Trauma Services, Department of General Surgery, Tan Tock Seng Hospital, Singapore.
authors.forename: Ming Terk
authors.initials: MT
authors.lastname: Chiu
authors.affiliation: Trauma Services, Department of General Surgery, Tan Tock Seng Hospital, Singapore.
authors.forename: Li Tserng
authors.initials: LT
authors.lastname: Teo
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006801:Humans; D015994:Incidence; D015601:Injury Severity Score; D007902:Length of Stay / Q000639:trends; D008297:Male; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D012652:Self Mutilation / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology*; D012846:Singapore / Q000453:epidemiology; D014193:Trauma Centers; D014951:Wounds, Stab / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology*
keywords: injury; mechanism; penetrating; stab wound; trauma
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