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Current Thoracic Surgery 2023 , Vol 8 , Issue 2
Analysis of non-operative management of 53 thoracic gunshot injuries in a training hospital from a thoracic surgical perspective
Merve Sengul Inan1,Hakan Isik1,Ufuk Unsal1,Ersin Sapmaz1,Kuthan Kavakli1,Hasan Caylak1,Alper Gozubuyuk1
1Department of Thoracic Surgery, Gulhane Education and Training Hospital, Ankara, Turkey DOI : 10.26663/cts.2023.0014 Viewed : 1765 - Downloaded : 590 Background: Although clinicians use selective non-operative control of thoracic gunshot injuries (TGSI), parameters that may affect the clinical response have not been studied. The aim of this study is to determine the safety and clinical outcome of non-operative follow-up of TGSIs.

Materials and Methods: Demographic, radiological and clinical features of 53 TSGIs, 2 female and 51 male, who were followed conservatively were examined. The data from the patients were retrospectively studied in terms of age, gender, extra-thoracic organ injuries, duration of chest tube, and length of hospital stay.

Results: Median age was 24. Twenty patients had extrathoracic injury (%37.7). The presence of extrathoracic pathology did not affect the total length of stay, but the diameter of hemothorax, pneumothorax or contusion did. No correlation was observed between the length of stay of the chest tube and the Thoracic Trauma Severity Score (TTSS) or Injury Severity Score (ISS) of the patients (p = 0.756, p = 0.160). No correlation was observed between the diameter of the contusion area and the TTSS score or ISS score (p = 0.672, p = 0.201).

Conclusions: Thoracic gunshot injuries can be approached conservatively by close monitoring and being aware of all life-threatening conditions. While trauma scores are quite adept at predicting length of stay, they do not always correlate with trauma severity. Keywords : gunshot wounds, chest, penetrating trauma, selective nonoperative management