etiology and outcome of firearm injuries in children

A four year retrospective study at Paediatric Dept., Mayo Hospital, Lahore revealed 174 children as victims of firearm injury. The majority [57.47%] were in the age group of 6-10 years while the male to female ratio was approximatelty 2:1. Street violence was the main mode of injury [52.29%], other modes being stray bullets [21.84%] festival firing [16.09%] and home accidents [1.6%]. The areas of the body involved were limbs [45.40%], abdomen [33.33%], chest [12.07%] and head and neck [10.92%]. The magnitude of the injuries was the main predictor of morbidity and mortality. There were nine deaths [5.17%] in this series, majority [7] of them being related to abdominal injuries