title: Selective Nonoperative Management of Abdominal Gunshot Wounds from Heresy to Adoption: A Multicenter Study of the Research Consortium of New England Centers for Trauma (ReCoNECT).
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Selective nonoperative management (SNOM) of abdominal gunshot wounds is being practiced in certain trauma centers, but its broader acceptance in the surgical community is unknown. We hypothesized that SNOM has been adopted in New England as an acceptable method of abdominal gunshot wound management.
  
  
  METHODS
  We reviewed the medical records of abdominal gunshot wound patients admitted from January 1996 to June 2015, in 10 New England Level I and II trauma centers. Outcomes included the incidence, success, and failure of SNOM, and morbidity and mortality related to SNOM.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Of 922 patients, 707 (77%) received immediate laparotomy (IMMLAP) and 215 (23%) were managed by SNOM. Compared with IMMLAP patients, those with SNOM had a lower median Injury Severity Score (16 vs 8; p < 0.001), lower incidence of complications (34.7% vs 8.5%; p < 0.001) and mortality (5.2% vs 0.5%; p = 0.002), and shorter ICU and hospital stays (median days 1 of 8 vs 0 of 2, respectively; p < 0.001). One SNOM patient died after 3 days due to a gunshot wound to the head. The overall incidence of SNOM increased from 18% before 2010 to 27% in the following years (p = 0.001). Eighteen patients (8.4%) had unsuccessful SNOM and underwent delayed laparotomy at an average of 12.5 hours (range 141 minutes to 48 hours) after arrival. Nine of them (4.2%) experienced complications that were not directly related to the delayed laparotomy, and none died. The rate of nontherapeutic laparotomies was 14.7% among IMMLAP and 5.5% among delayed laparotomy patients (p = 0.49).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Selective nonoperative management of abdominal gunshot wounds, despite being a heresy only a few years ago, has now been established as an acceptable method of management in Level I and II trauma centers in New England.
authors.affiliation: Department of Surgery, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, MA.
authors.forename: Thomas
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Peponis
authors.affiliation: Department of Surgery, Boston Medical Center, Boston, MA.
authors.forename: George
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Kasotakis
authors.affiliation: Department of Surgery, Boston Medical Center, Boston, MA.
authors.forename: Jielin
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Yu
authors.affiliation: Department of Surgery, Baystate Medical Center, Boston, MA.
authors.forename: Reginald
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Alouidor
authors.affiliation: Department of Surgery, Baystate Medical Center, Boston, MA.
authors.forename: Barbara
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Burkott
authors.affiliation: Department of Surgery, Yale School of Medicine, New Haven, CT.
authors.forename: Adrian A
authors.initials: AA
authors.lastname: Maung
authors.affiliation: Department of Surgery, Yale School of Medicine, New Haven, CT.
authors.forename: Dirk C
authors.initials: DC
authors.lastname: Johnson
authors.affiliation: Department of Surgery, Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, Boston, MA.
authors.forename: Noelle
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Saillant
authors.affiliation: Department of Surgery, Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, Boston, MA.
authors.forename: Heath
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Walden
authors.affiliation: Department of Surgery, Brigham and Women's Hospital, Boston, MA.
authors.forename: Ali
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Salim
authors.affiliation: Department of Surgery, Brigham and Women's Hospital, Boston, MA.
authors.forename: Elizabeth
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Bryant
authors.affiliation: Department of Surgery, UMass Memorial Medical Center, Boston, MA.
authors.forename: Jon D
authors.initials: JD
authors.lastname: Dorfman
authors.affiliation: Department of Surgery, Hartford Hospital, Hartford, CT.
authors.forename: Eric N
authors.initials: EN
authors.lastname: Klein
authors.affiliation: Department of Surgery, Hartford Hospital, Hartford, CT.
authors.forename: Ronen
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Elefant
authors.affiliation: Department of Surgery, North Shore Medical Center, Salem, MA.
authors.forename: Maryam B
authors.initials: MB
authors.lastname: Tabrizi
authors.affiliation: Department of Surgery, Tufts Medical Center, Boston, MA.
authors.forename: Nikolay
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Bugaev
authors.affiliation: Department of Surgery, Tufts Medical Center, Boston, MA.
authors.forename: Sandra S
authors.initials: SS
authors.lastname: Arabian
authors.affiliation: Department of Surgery, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, MA. Electronic address: gvelmahos@mgh.harvard.edu.
authors.forename: George C
authors.initials: GC
authors.lastname: Velmahos
mesh_terms: D000007:Abdominal Injuries / Q000628:therapy*; D000328:Adult; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007813:Laparotomy; D008297:Male; D009511:New England; D010818:Practice Patterns, Physicians'; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D014193:Trauma Centers; D014948:Wounds, Gunshot / Q000628:therapy*; D055815:Young Adult