Trends of Self-Inflicted Firearm Injuries at a Rural Level 1 Trauma Center

• Published in: The American surgeon Vol. 90; no. 8; p. 2083
• Main Authors: Burns, Aliya G, Rasarmos, Alex P, Leonard, Matthew A, Collins, Hannah W, Burns, J Bracken
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: United States 01-08-2024
• Subjects: Adolescent; Adult; Aged; Female; Humans; Injury Severity Score; Length of Stay - statistics & numerical data; Male; Middle Aged; Retrospective Studies; Rural Population - statistics & numerical data; Self-Injurious Behavior - epidemiology; Trauma Centers; Wounds, Gunshot - epidemiology; Young Adult; trauma; gunshot; rural
• ISSN: 1555-9823
• DOI: 10.1177/00031348241241633

Firearm injuries are a major public health concern with much focus on injuries due to violent crimes in urban areas. Less focus has been on self-inflicted injuries and rural settings. This study included 201 patients, of which 124 (61.7%) were accidental and 77 (38.3%) were intentional self-inflicted gunshot wounds (GSWs) sustained over 6 years at a rural level 1 trauma center. Injury severity scores (
< .001), hospital days (
< .001), and mortality (
< .001) were significantly higher among intentional self-inflicted GSWs. Injuries to the head were the most common injury among patients with intentional self-inflicted GSWs (
< .001).Accidental and intentional self-inflicted GSWs make up a large portion of firearm injuries seen at our rural level 1 trauma center, and defining these injuries can facilitate the need for targeted gun safety and injury prevention efforts.