Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2017 Nov;41(11):2681-2688.
doi: 10.1007/s00268-017-4083-7.

Self-Inflicted Abdominal Stab Wounds Have a Higher Rate of Non-therapeutic Laparotomy/Laparoscopy and a Lower Risk of Injury

Nikolay Bugaev  1 , Kevin McKay  2 , Janis L Breeze  3   4 , Sandra S Arabian  5 , Reuven Rabinovici  5
Affiliations

Self-Inflicted Abdominal Stab Wounds Have a Higher Rate of Non-therapeutic Laparotomy/Laparoscopy and a Lower Risk of Injury

Nikolay Bugaev et al. World J Surg. 2017 Nov.

Abstract

Background: The profile and management of self-inflicted abdominal stab wounds (SI-ASW) patients is still obscure.

Methods: The National Trauma Data Bank (2012) was queried for adults with abdominal stab wounds (n = 9544). Patients with SI-ASW (n = 1724) and non-SI-ASW (n = 7820) were compared. Predictors for non-therapeutic laparotomy/laparoscopy (non-TL) in SI-ASW patients were identified.

Results: SI-ASW patients were older, had more females and behavioral disorders, similar physiology, but a lower Injury Severity Score. They had more laparotomies overall (54 versus 48%, p < 0.0001) and more non-TL (42 versus 32%, p < 0.0001), but less injuries (43 versus 53%, p < 0.0001), although peritoneal violation rate was similar. Complications and mortality were similar. In the SI-ASW cohort, non-TL patients were more likely to be female and younger, and to have Glasgow Coma Scale (GCS) ≥13 and a higher systolic blood pressure. History of psychiatric, drug and alcohol disorders was associated with SI-ASW, but did not independently predict the need for treatment in adjusted models.

Conclusion: Patients with SI-ASW underwent more non-TL than patients with non-SI-ASW. Female gender, younger age, and a higher GCS and systolic blood pressure predicted non-TL in this group.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

Conflict of interest There are no conflicts of interest to declare.

References

    1. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Web-based Injury Statistics Query and Reporting System (WISQARS) (2013, 2011) National Center for Injury Prevention and Control, CDC (producer). http://www.cdc.gov/injury/wisqars/index.html. Accessed 8 July 2016
    1. Biffl WL, Kaups KL, Pham TN et al. (2011) Validating the Western Trauma Association algorithm for managing patients with anterior abdominal stab wounds: a Western Trauma Association multicenter trial. J Trauma 71:1494–1502 - PubMed
    1. Patel V, de Moore G (1994) Harakiri: a clinical study of deliberate self-stabbing. J Clin Psychiatr 55:98–103 - PubMed
    1. Start RD, Milroy CM, Green MA (1992) Suicide by self-stabbing. Forensic Sci Int 56:89–94 - PubMed
    1. Karlsson T, Ormstad K, Rajs J (1988) Patterns in sharp force fatalities–a comprehensive forensic medical study: part 2. Suicidal-sharp force injury in the Stockholm area 1972–1984. J Forensic Sci 33:448–461 - PubMed

MeSH terms