TY  - JOUR
PY  - 2005//
TI  - Gunshot wounds to the head: gang- and non-gang-related injuries and outcomes
JO  - Brain injury
A1  - Aryan, Henry E.
A1  - Jandial, Rahul
A1  - Bennett, Russell L.
A1  - Masri, L. S.
A1  - Lavine, S. D.
A1  - Levy, Michael L.
SP  - 505
EP  - 510
VL  - 19
IS  - 7
N2  - PRIMARY OBJECTIVE: This study examined the differences between gang and non-gang-related incidents of penetrative missile injuries in terms of demographics, motivation, intra-cranial pathology, transit time, injury time and clinical outcome. RESEARCH DESIGN: Retrospective and prospective chart review. METHODS AND PROCEDURES: Between 1985-1992, 349 patients with penetrating missile injuries to the brain presenting to LAC-USC were studied. EXPERIMENTAL INTERVENTIONS: Inclusion criteria were implemented to keep the cohort as homogenous as possible. Patients excluded were those with multiple gunshot wounds, non-penetrating gunshot wounds to the head, systemic injuries and cases in which the motivation for the incident was unknown. MAIN OUTCOMES AND RESULTS: Gang-related shooting slightly out-numbered non-gang-related incidents. Demographic analysis showed both a male and Hispanic predominance for both gang- and non-gang-related victims and significant differences in gender, race and age. Occipital entrance sites were more common in the gang-related vs temporal entrance sites in the non-gang-related. Mean transit time to the emergency department for gang-related shootings was less than non-gang-related shootings (24.4 vs 27.8 minutes). Most shooting incidents took place between 6pm and 3am. No difference between survival and outcome was noted between gang and non-gang victims. CONCLUSIONS: Significant differences were found between gang- and non-gang-related shooting victims in terms of demographics, entrance site and transit time. No difference was found between injury time, survival and outcome between gang and non-gang populations.
LA  - 
SN  - 0269-9052
UR  - http://dx.doi.org/
ID  - ref1
ER  -