Abstract
Objective To evaluate and describe musculoskeletal injuries by firearms in children and adolescents
attended in a major trauma center.
Methods This was a retrospective study that evaluated the medical records of < 18 years old
patients who were victims of injuries by firearms and who presented to the emergency
department of our hospital, from January 2014 to December 2016. A total of 51 patients
were excluded for not showing musculoskeletal injures or for other reasons, while
126 were included. The collected data were: gender; age; way of admission; body site
hit; fractures; complications and sequelae; associated injures; hospitalization time;
surgeries; deaths.
Results Out of 126 patients included, 107 were male (84.9%) and 19 were female (15.1%). The
mean age was 15 years and 5 months old (range: 2y + 8 months to 17y + 11 months years
old). A total of 70 patients were hospitalized (55.6%), with a mean hospital stay
of 9.6 days, and 21 patients were hospitalized in the intensive care unit (ICU) for
a mean of 14.7 days. A total of 37 patients needed orthopedic surgery (29.4%). There
were 6 deaths (4.8%). The thigh was the most hit region, in 43 injuries (24.7%). Six
patients had spinal cord sequelae, and eight patients had peripheral nerves injuries.
A total of 58 patients (46%) had 71 fractures, and the femur was the most hit (15.5%).
A total of 52 (41.3%) patients presented with associated injuries. In the 71 fractures,
the treatment was conservative in 45 (63.4%), surgical in 23 (32.4%). Three injuries
resulted in death (4.2%).
Conclusion Adolescents and males are at-risk groups for firearms injuries, and the lesions are
mainly on the lower limbs. Less than half of the patients had fractures, but many
had complex lesions with potential for severe sequelae.
Keywords
firearms - musculoskeletal system/injuries - child - adolescent
