title: Spinal cord injury resulting from gunshot wounds: a comparative study with non-gunshot causes.
abstract: METHODS
  Retrospective, comparative 7-year study.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  To identify the clinical characteristics of patients with spinal cord injury (SCI) resulting from gunshot wound (GSW).
  
  
  METHODS
  Turkish Armed Forces Rehabilitation Center, Ankara, Turkey.
  
  
  METHODS
  The study included 1043 consecutive patients with SCI who were divided into two groups according to etiology: patients with gunshot-induced spinal cord injury (GSWSCI) constituted the study group, and randomly selected patients with non-gunshot-induced spinal cord injury (NGSWSCI) who were matched for gender and for week of admission constituted the control group. The demographic and clinical characteristics of the patients were recorded, compared and analyzed.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The study group included 102 patients (mean age: 26.93±9.11 years). The vast majority of the patients were aged 16-30 years (68.6%) and 90.2% were male. The majority of the lesions were at the thoracic level (58.8%) and a complete injury (60.8%). Surgical stabilization of the spine was performed in 50 patients (49%). The most prevalent associated injury was intra-abdominal injury followed by chest injury. Compared with the NGSWSCI group, the GSWSCI patients were more likely to have a complete lesion (60.8% vs 45.1%, P=0.025), had a lower rate of surgical stabilization (49 vs 88.2%, P=0.0001) and had a higher rate of associated injuries (54.9% vs 25.5%, P=0.0001). Compared with the civilian GSWSCI group, the military GSWSCI patients had a higher rate of surgical stabilization and associated injuries (60% vs 40%, P=0.049, 68.9% vs 43.9%, P=0.012, respectively).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The results revealed that GSWSCI and military GSWSCI patients may have different demographic and clinical features compared with NGSWSCI and civilian GSWSCI patients, respectively.
authors.affiliation: Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, Turkish Armed Forces Rehabilitation Center, Gulhane Military Medical Academy, Ankara, Turkey.
authors.forename: Ü
authors.initials: Ü
authors.lastname: Güzelküçük
authors.affiliation: Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, Turkish Armed Forces Rehabilitation Center, Gulhane Military Medical Academy, Ankara, Turkey.
authors.forename: Y
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Demir
authors.affiliation: Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, Turkish Armed Forces Rehabilitation Center, Gulhane Military Medical Academy, Ankara, Turkey.
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Kesikburun
authors.affiliation: Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, Turkish Armed Forces Rehabilitation Center, Gulhane Military Medical Academy, Ankara, Turkey.
authors.forename: B
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Aras
authors.affiliation: Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, Turkish Armed Forces Rehabilitation Center, Gulhane Military Medical Academy, Ankara, Turkey.
authors.forename: F
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Yavuz
authors.affiliation: Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, Turkish Armed Forces Rehabilitation Center, Gulhane Military Medical Academy, Ankara, Turkey.
authors.forename: E
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Yaşar
authors.affiliation: Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, Turkish Armed Forces Rehabilitation Center, Gulhane Military Medical Academy, Ankara, Turkey.
authors.forename: B
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Yılmaz
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D017677:Age Distribution; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008137:Longitudinal Studies; D008297:Male; D012047:Rehabilitation Centers; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D012720:Severity of Illness Index; D013119:Spinal Cord Injuries / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000209:etiology*; D014421:Turkey; D014948:Wounds, Gunshot / Q000150:complications* / Q000453:epidemiology; D055815:Young Adult