Pattern of XXXX among civilian gunshot victims at tertiary care hospital in Karachi, Pakistan.

@entity1 @entity1317 @entity130 @entity2737
PURPOSE: Firearm injuries impose a continuous economic burden on society and hospital resources. The aim of this study was to assess the pattern of @entity130 among victims of gunshots. METHODS: A retrospective study was conducted in the Department of Orthopedics, Dow University of Health Sciences and Civil Hospital Karachi from January 2011 to December 2012. @entity1 with isolated @entity130 were included while @entity1 with other @entity1317 were excluded. RESULTS: There were 90 cases and the majority of them were male (84.4%). Mean age was (32.52    10.27) years. Most of the @entity1 (72.2%) belong to the younger age group. A low velocity weapon was used in 61 (67.8%) cases and a high velocity weapon was used in 29 (32.2%) cases. Armed robbery (64.4%) was the cause of conflict in more than half of the cases. Lower limb was involved in 72.2%. Fifty eight (64.4%) @entity1 remained hospitalized for 15e20 days and others for more than 20 days. Internal fixation with intramedullary nailing was done in 35 @entity1 while K-wire was used in 5 @entity1 . Fifty @entity1 were managed with external fixation, either uniplanar or multiplanar ilizarov. @entity2737 and nonunion were observed more often in high velocity injuries. CONCLUSION: Armed robbery was the leading cause of gunshot @entity130 in our hospital. Young males were victimized in a majority of cases. High velocity injuries were associated with more complications.
