Fire Arm Injury to the Head: A One Year Experience at Department of Neurosurgery Lady Reading Hospital, Peshawar

Authors

  • Ramzan Hussain Neurosurgery Department
  • MUHAMMAD USMAN Department of Neurosurgery
  • MUMTAZ ALI Department of Neurosurgery,
  • Muhamad Ishfaq Department of Neurosurgery
  • Muhammad Azam Department of Neurosurgery

Keywords:

Head Injury, Firearm, Outcome, Brain edema

Abstract

Objective: To determine the outcome of head injury due to fire arm in Lady Reading Hospital, Peshawar.
Material and Methods: This observational study was conducted in Neurosurgery Department of PGMI, Lady Reading Hospital Peshawar from January 2010 to December 2010. Patients of all ages with either sex were included in this study, while those patients of firearm having associated thoracic, abdominal or pelvic injuries were excluded. All the data was collected by using a Performa. Data was analyzed by descriptive statistics using SPSS software version 17.
Results: Out of total 46 head injury patients due to firearm 37 (80.43%) were males and 9 (19.56%) were females. Most of the patients (73.91%) were in the age range of 16 – 45 years. At the time of initial presentation majority of the patients (65.21%) presented with mild to moderate head injury. Major radiological findings were intraparenchymal bleed / contusions (69.56%) followed by brain edema (58.69%). Most of the patients (76.08%) needed surgical intervention and were treated accordingly. The mortality rate was 15.22%. Seventeen patients had satisfactory condition at discharge, while 22 were referred to local hospitals for neuro-rehabilitation.
Conclusion: Majority of our patients was young males and the most common presenting age range was 16-45 years. Most of our patients (91.30%) sustained firearm due to homicide. At the time of initial presentation majo-rity of the patients (65.21%) presented with mild to moderate head injury. Thirty five patients (76.08%) needed surgical intervention and were treated accordingly. Mortality rate was 15.22%.

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Published

2018-09-30

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