title: Bullhorn and bullfighting injuries.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Our purpose was to present our hospital experience with bullhorn injuries.
  
  
  METHODS
  A retrospective analysis of patients in our Trauma Registry (1993-2012).
  
  
  RESULTS
  Fifteen patients were included. All were hemodynamically stable on presentation, with a mean Glasgow Coma Scale (GCS) score and a Revised Trauma Score (RTS) of 15 and 11.9, respectively. The Injury Severity Score (ISS) and New Injury Severity Score were 13.6 ± 6 and 15.9 ± 9, respectively. Seven had an ISS > 15. Injuries resulted from an isolated blunt trauma (BT) in four, penetrating trauma (PT) in seven, with extensive soft tissue injuries (STI) in three, and a combined BT + PT mechanism in four patients, with extensive STI in all. Three patients had injuries to vessels in the groin, two with prehospital vein ligation. Five patients had abdominal visceral injuries, and another had a sheathed goring, with a traumatic abdominal wall hernia and retroperitoneal hematoma. Four patients had thoracic injuries, and one of them had a traumatic thoracoplasty with a large open thoracic wound, a flail chest, and extensive STI. Two patients had traumatic brain injury, and six had bone fractures. Two-thirds of patients required a surgical procedure under general anesthesia. Morbidity included three surgical site infections, one leg compartment syndrome, and one persistent lymph drainage. There was no mortality, and the mean length of hospital stay was 16 days.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Bullhorn and bullfighting injuries frequently have a multimechanistic origin which goes beyond a pure penetrating trauma. Associated blunt and STI were common in our series, and the overall prognosis of patients admitted to hospital was good.
authors.affiliation: General Surgery Service and Emergency Surgery, University San Juan Hospital, Alicante, Spain. agmarin1980@gmail.com.|Pathology and Surgery Department, Miguel Hernández University, Carretera Alicante-Valencia s/n, 03550, Alicante, Spain. agmarin1980@gmail.com.
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: García-Marín
authors.affiliation: General Surgery 2 Service and Emergency Surgery Section, University General Hospital Gregorio Marañón, Madrid, Spain.
authors.forename: F
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Turégano-Fuentes
authors.affiliation: General Surgery 2 Service and Emergency Surgery Section, University General Hospital Gregorio Marañón, Madrid, Spain.
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Sánchez-Arteaga
authors.affiliation: General Surgery 2 Service and Emergency Surgery Section, University General Hospital Gregorio Marañón, Madrid, Spain.
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Franco-Herrera
authors.affiliation: Thoracic Surgery Service, University General Hospital Gregorio Marañón, Madrid, Spain.
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Simón-Adiego
authors.affiliation: General Surgery 2 Service and Emergency Surgery Section, University General Hospital Gregorio Marañón, Madrid, Spain.
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Sanz-Sánchez
keywords: Blunt trauma; Bullfighting; Bullhorn; Penetrating trauma; Soft tissue injuries
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