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. 2019 Jan 23;27(1):7.
doi: 10.1186/s13049-018-0582-2.

Penetrating stab injuries in Iceland: a whole-nation study on incidence and outcome in patients hospitalized for penetrating stab injuries

Una Johannesdottir  1 , Gudrun Maria Jonsdottir  2 , Bergros K Johannesdottir  3 , Alexandra Aldis Heimisdottir  4 , Elias Eythorsson  4   5 , Tomas Gudbjartsson  1   4 , Brynjolfur Mogensen  6   7
Affiliations

Penetrating stab injuries in Iceland: a whole-nation study on incidence and outcome in patients hospitalized for penetrating stab injuries

Una Johannesdottir et al. Scand J Trauma Resusc Emerg Med. .

Abstract

Background: Studies on penetrating injuries in Europe are scarce and often represent data from single institutions. The aim of this study was to describe the incidence and demographic features of patients hospitalized for stab injury in a whole nation.

Materials and methods: This was a retrospective nationwide population-based study on all consecutive adult patients who were hospitalized in Iceland following knife and machete-related injuries, 2000-2015. Age-standardized incidence was calculated and Injury Severity Score (ISS) was used to assess severity of injury.

Results: Altogether, 73 patients (mean age 32.6 years, 90.4% males) were admitted during the 16-year study period, giving an age-standardized incidence of 1.54/100,000 inhabitants. The incidence did not vary significantly during the study period (P = 0.826). Most cases were assaults (95.9%) occurring at home or in public streets, and involved the chest (n = 32), abdomen (n = 26), upper limbs (n = 26), head/neck/face (n = 21), lower limbs (n = 10), and the back (n = 6). Median ISS was 9, with 14 patients (19.2%) having severe injuries (defined as ISS > 15). The median length of hospital stay was 2 days (range 0-53). Forty-seven patients (64.4%) underwent surgery and 26 of them (35.6%) required admission to an intensive care unit (ICU), all with ISS scores above 15. Three patients did not survive for 30 days (4.1%); all of them had severe injuries (ISS 17, 25, and 75).

Conclusion: Stab injuries that require hospital admission are rare in Iceland, and their incidence has remained relatively stable. One in every five patients sustained severe injuries, two-thirds of whom were treated with surgical interventions, and roughly one-third required ICU care. Although some patients were severely injured with high injury scores, their 30-day mortality was still low in comparison to other studies.

Keywords: Mortality; Outcome; Penetrating; Stabbing injury; Trauma; Treatment.

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Conflict of interest statement

Ethics approval and consent to participate

The study was approved by the Icelandic National Bioethics Committee (VSNb2016040007) and the Data Protection Authority (2013030408HGK). Individual consent for participation in the study was not obtained.

Consent for publication

Not applicable.

Competing interests

The authors declare that there are no conflicts of interests.

Publisher’s Note

Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.

Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1
Incidence of penetrating stab injuries during the 16 – year study period
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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