GUNSHOT FRACTURES - A MEDICAL, SOCIAL, AND ECONOMIC-ANALYSIS

One hundred ten fractures due to gunshots were reviewed to examine the medical, social, and financial impacts of such injuries. The populati on was predominantly male (91%), unemployed (56%), and uninsured (79%) . Sixty-eight percent were documented substance abusers, and 65% of th e injuries appeared to be related to illicit drug activities. There we re 94 long bone fractures and 16 intraarticular fractures. Early opera tive treatment was employed in 64 patients (58%) with formal internal fixation in 31. There was no difference between type of treatment, ass ociated injury variables, and outcome, and no increase in complication s with acute operative management employing internal fixation. Medical charges averaged $13 108 per patient, a 1200% increase over injuries treated at this institution in 1972 and a rise far in excess of the me dical care inflation rate (334%) during the same period.