A decade long overview of damage control laparotomy for abdominal gunshot wounds

• Published in: European journal of trauma and emergency surgery (Munich : 2007) 2024-10, Vol.50 (5), p.2259-2264
• Main Authors: He, Reuben, Kong, Victor, Ko, Jonathan, Narayanan, Anantha, Wain, Howard, Bruce, John, Laing, Grant, Manchev, Vassil, Bekker, Wanda, Clarke, Damian
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Abdomen; Abdominal Injuries - surgery; Adult; Critical Care Medicine; Emergency Medicine; Female; Humans; Injury Severity Score; Intensive; Laparotomy; Laparotomy - methods; Male; Medicine; Medicine & Public Health; Middle Aged; Original Article; Registries; Retrospective Studies; Sports Medicine; Surgery; Surgical Orthopedics; Traumatic Surgery; Wounds, Gunshot - mortality; Wounds, Gunshot - surgery
• ISSN: 1863-9933; 1863-9941; 1863-9941
• DOI: 10.1007/s00068-024-02563-2

Purpose Over the last three decades, damage control laparotomy (DCL) has become important in the management of abdominal gunshot wounds (GSW). This paper reviews the experience of a single institution over a decade with the use of DCL for GSW of the abdomen. Methods Longitudinal data (2013-2022) was collected from the Hybrid Electronic Medical Registry database to identify all patients with an abdominal GSW over the study period. The data was stratified based on patients who underwent DCL and those who did not. Descriptive analysis was completed to summarise the raw data. Univariate and multivariate analysis was completed to identify variables associated with undergoing DCL. Results There were 135 patients (32%) who underwent DCL and 290 patients (68%) who did not. Colonic, small bowel, mesenteric, hepatic, pancreatic and intra-abdominal vessel injuries were associated with the need for DCL ( P