Israel Medical Association Journal

Background: Selective management of stable patients with anterior abdomen stab wounds (AASWs) has become a gold standard management approach throughout the world. Evidenced-based options for supporting selective management include clinical follow-up, local wound exploration with or without diagnostic peritoneal lavage, diagnostic laparoscopy, and abdominal computerized tomography. The presence of multiple AASWs might signify a more aggressive attack and limit the safety of a selective management approach.

Objectives: To evaluate whether multiple AASWs are associated with an increased risk of intra-abdominal injury requiring emergency surgery.

Methods: We retrospectively reviewed all AASW patients admitted to Assaf Harofeh Medical Center, Zerifin, Israel, and Hillel Yaffe Medical Center in Hadera, Israel, from 2007 to 2015. Patients were divided into two groups based on the number of stab wounds: single or multiple. Data were coded for demographics, severity of injury, presence of intra-abdominal injury, laparotomy rate, length of hospital stay (LOS), length of stay in the intensive care unit (LICU), and survival.

Results: The study included 169 patients. Of these, 143 patients had a single AASW and 26 had multiple AASWs. There were no differences between the groups regarding demographics, severity of injury, intra-abdominal penetration, specific organ injury, LOS, or LICU. There was no difference in the percentage of patients requiring laparotomy. The overall mortality was 2.36% (4/169). There was no significant difference in the mortality rate between the groups (P = 0.11).

Conclusions: The presence of multiple AASWs is not a risk factor for increased frequency and severity of intra-abdominal injury.

Background: Although women comprise only a minority of patients hospitalized due to violence-related injury, the circumstances of attacks against women may make their injuries more severe.

Methods: We conducted a retrospective study using data of 9173 patients with stabbing-related injuries from 19 trauma centers participating in the Israeli National Trauma Registry between 1 January 1997 and 31 December 2014. Male and female patients were compared in terms of demographic and circumstantial factors, clinical characteristics, and outcomes.

Results: Women were found to have greater injury severity according to the Injury Severity Scale (ISS) – 18% vs. 11% of severe (ISS 16+) injuries – requiring more hospital resources. Injuries that contributed most to injury severity in the female population were head and severe abdominal trauma. Women also sustained injuries to more body sites than men; however, regression analysis showed that the contribution of this factor to the overall difference in injury severity was less important than the injured sites. Regression analysis among severely injured patients pointed at injury to lower extremities as an independent factor related to female mortality. Different from men, among women the stabbing injuries to the upper extremities were not a protective factor in terms of mortality.

Conclusions: There are significant differences in the injury profiles of male and female stabbing victims, which can be explained by the different circumstances of the injury event.