A bibliometric analysis of publications on gunshot wounds, 1980-2022.

BACKGROUND: Deaths due to gunshot wounds (GSWs) have become an increasingly important public health problem in Türkiye and abroad. The aim of this study was to conduct a bibliometric analysis of articles about GSW. METHODS: Within the scope of the research, the Web of Science database was examined with the bibliometrix program. GSW, gunshot injuries, gunshot injury, firearm wound, firearm injuries, and firearm injury were used as keywords. RESULTS: As a result of the analysis, 1236 articles published in 479 different journals between 1980 and 2022 were reached. The an-nual growth rate of the articles was 6.69% and the average citation per article was 9.78. The United States of America (USA) (n=562, 45.4%), Türkiye (n=102, 8.25%), and India (n=42, 3.4%) were the top three countries with the highest publication performance. The top three most influential researchers are Elias Degiannis and Roger Saadia from South Africa and C. William Schwab from the USA. The most influential researcher of Turkish origin was Ersin Erdogan. 'Journal of Trauma-Injury Infection and Critical Care,' 'Ameri-can Surgeon,' and 'Injury-International Journal of the Care of the Injured' are the top three most influential journals in terms of the number of publications and citations. 'Turkish Journal of Trauma and Emergency Surgery' from Türkiye is the eighth most influential journal. The most influential study in terms of citations was found to be the study titled 'Firearm injuries in the United States' by Katherine A Fowler, published in Prev Med in 2015. CONCLUSION: As a result of the research, useful information has been revealed for researchers working on GSW. Being the first comprehensive bibliometric study in the field of GSW makes this research unique.

The correlation between hemostatic blood parameters and sepsis in patients with gunshot wounds referred to a training and research hospital.

BACKGROUND: War injuries are different among the causes of trauma compared to cases in normal life. Patients with multi-trauma due to war injury are prone to develop infective complications such as sepsis or septic shock. Septic complications are one of the leading causes of late death in multi-trauma patients. Prompt, appropriate, and effective management of sepsis has been shown to prevent multiorgan dysfunction and improve mortality and clinical outcomes. However, there is no ideal biomarker to predict sepsis. The aim of this study was to determine whether there is a correlation between hemostatic blood parameters and sepsis in patients with gunshot wounds (GSW). METHODS: This descriptive study was conducted as a retrospective analysis of patients who were referred to the adult emergency department of a training and research hospital between October 1, 2016, and December 31, 2017, with a diagnosis of GSW and who developed sepsis (n=56) and did not develop sepsis (n=56) during follow-up. Demographic data such as age, sex, and blood parameters obtained from the hospital information system in the emergency department were recorded for each case. The statistical difference in hemostatic blood parameters between the two groups with and without sepsis was evaluated with Statistical Package for the Social Sciences 20.0 program. RESULTS: The mean age of the patients was 26.9±6.67. All of the patients were male. Of the patients who developed sepsis, 57% (n=32) were injured with improvised explosive devices (IEDs), 30% (n=17) were injured with firearms and when the anatomical injury sites were analyzed, 64% (n=36) had multiple injuries. In patients who did not develop sepsis, 48% (n=27) had IED, 43% (n=24) had GSW and 48% (n=27) had multiple injuries and 32% (n=18) had extremity injuries. Among the hemostatic blood parameters, platelet count (PLT), PTZ, INR, and Ca values showed a statistically significant difference between patients with and without sepsis, and when analyzed with the receiver operating characteristics curve, PTZ and INR showed the best diagnostic performance compared to the tested values. CONCLUSION: Increased PTZ and INR values and decreased Ca and PLT values in patients with GSW may alert clinicians to sepsis and direct them to initiate or change antibiotic therapy.

Is disposable continuous positive airway pressure system effective for the management of acute hypercapnic respiratory failure?

AIM: This study aimed to investigate the effectiveness of disposable continuous positive airway pressure (DCPAP) system in decreasing the partial pressure of carbon dioxide (PaCO2) levels in patients with acute hypercapnic respiratory failure (AHRF). MATERIAL AND METHODS: This retrospective observational study included patients treated in the emergency department (ED) with respiratory distress and PaCO2 > 45 mmHg. Patients were divided into two groups (DCPAP and non-DCPAP), depending on the treatment received to treat AHRF. The difference between the baseline PaCO2 levels in the first blood gas obtained from patients at the time of admission and the follow-up blood gas after treatment. Then, the calculated PaCO2 decrease was divided by the time elapsed to obtain the rate of decrease in PaCO2 levels in mmHg/min. The statistical analyses were performed using SPSS version 18.0 software. A p value of < 0.05 was considered statistically significant. RESULTS: A total of 61 patients were included in the study, 31 patients in the DCPAP group and 30 patients in the non-DCPAP group. The mean age of the patients was 74.03 ± 10.04, and the male/female was 23/38. The study demonstrated a statistically significant difference between the DCPAP and non-DCPAP groups in terms of PaCO2 decreasing rate, and it was found to be twice higher in the DCPAP group (0.11 ± 0.07 mmHg/min) than in the non-DCPAP group (0.05 ± 0.06 mmHg/min). CONCLUSION: The study demonstrated that the treatment of AHRF patients with a DCPAP provides a faster decrease in PaCO2 levels in hypercapnic patients compared to standard medical therapy alone.