PEDIATRIC GUNSHOT WOUNDS TO THE HEAD AND NECK

Gunshot wounds to the head and neck in the pediatric population have b ecome alarmingly common, They often result in death of the victim, dev astate families, and inflict a considerable financial burden to hospit als and society. We present a retrospective study of cases treated at a level I trauma center in Houston, Texas, from July 1990 to July 1993 , We identified 115 cases of gunshot wounds in children, 32 of which w ere exclusively confined to the head and neck region, There were 26 ma le and 6 female patients, Ages ranged from 3 to 17 years, The cranial cavity was involved in 13 cases, leading to 9 deaths and 1 institution alization. The shootings took place at home in 11 cases, and they invo lved play in 12 cases, The shooter was known to 11 of the victims, and the wounds were self-inflicted in 7 cases. The most common type of we apon was the .22 caliber pistol, which caused four of the deaths, Two of our cases involved BE air rifles, one of which mandated a craniotom y for the evacuation of an epidural hematoma. Our findings indicate th at gunshot wounds to head and neck in children are in most instances p reventable and result in high fatality rates because of common intracr anial involvement, even when low-energy missiles are used.