Management of Fire Arm Injury chest, an experience of 10,200 patients

Results The study included 10,200 patients; all were having firearm injuries leading to hemopneumothorax. Male to female ratio was 2:1. All patients were initially managed with tube thoracostomy. 400/10200 (3.92%) patients underwent emergency Thoracotomy, Rest of the patients i.e. 9801/10200 (96.07%) were hemodynamically stable and treated with low pressure suction and incentive spirometry. In 550/10200 (5.39%) patients which developed clotted hemothorax were evacuated successfully through thoracotomy. The mean time interval between injury and thoracotomy was 14.5 days (range between 11124 days). The mean volume of clotted hemothorax evacuated was 650 ml.The mean post-operative hospital stay was 5 days. Discussion/Conclusion Majority of fire arm injuries were successfully managed by chest intubations, observation and supported treatment. 400 patients required emergency Thoracotomy, 550 patients went into develop clotted Hemothorax requiring evacuation