THE CHILDHOOD AIR GUN - SERIOUS INJURIES AND SURGICAL INTERVENTIONS

Objective: Increasingly powerful nonpowder firearms or air guns are fr equently given to children as toys. We undertook the present study to evaluate the injuries caused by these firearms, based on the concern t hat they are capable of inflicting serious trauma. Design: Descriptive , retrospective chart review, Setting: Urban level I pediatric trauma center. Participants: The study included all children with injuries se condary to air guns who mere admitted between July 1988 and March 1995 , Main outcome measures Type of weapon, circumstances of injury, anato mic location of injury, injury severity, surgeries performed, morbidit y. Interventions: None. Results: There were 42 admissions with a mean hospital stay of seven days (range 1 to 136 days). The average age was 10 years (range 1 to 23 years) with a median age of 11 years. There w ere 35 boys and 7 girls, Twenty-nine of the 42 injuries mere caused by a family member or friend and live were self-inflicted, The mean inju ry severity score was 8.3. While there mere no fatalities, 21 children (50 %) underwent operative procedures for their injuries. Ten of the injuries were potentially lethal, of which seven were due to the ''pum p'' action air gun, Sixteen patients had serious long-term disability as a result of their injuries. Conclusion: Air guns can cause a variet y of serious injuries, often requiring operative intervention. The lon g-term morbidity from some of these injuries is significant, Both pare nts and physicians should be aware that nonpowder guns are not toys, b ut weapons capable of inflicting serious trauma, The evaluation and tr eatment of air gun injuries should be similar to that currently used f or powder weapon injuries. Recommendations for evaluation and treatmen t are made.