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Thoracoabdominal injuries after a bomb explosion: blast injuries and their clinical effects

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European Journal of Trauma and Emergency Surgery Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Purpose

To report the types and effects of injuries to the thoracoabdominal region caused by blast and emphasize the importance of the early detection of primary blast injuries.

Methods

Of the 98 patients injured as a result of a bomb explosion, 31 with thoracoabdominal injuries were included in the study. The demographic and laboratory data, operations performed, and radiological findings were obtained from the electronic records of the patients. The injuries caused by the explosion were divided into four categories as primary, secondary, tertiary, and quaternary. The patients with a new injury severity score (NISS) of ≥ 16 were considered to have critical injuries.

Results

While mortality developed in 16 (51.6%) of 31 patients included in the study, 15 (48.4%) were discharged after treatment. The mean ages of the patients in the mortality and survivor groups were 29.6 ± 4.5 and 31.1 ± 10.7 years, respectively (p > 0.005). When the two groups were examined, the rate of hypovolemic shock and NISS score were significantly higher in the mortality group (p = 0.001 and p < 0.001, respectively) and the pH of the patients in the mortality group was more acidic (7.18 ± 0.13 vs. 7.34 ± 0.13, p = 0.002). One patient in the survivor group required surgery after the explosion due to missed primary blast injuries.

Conclusions

To make the best use of resources in terrorist attacks and mass casualties that place a huge burden on health systems, it is important to evaluate patients with the highest index of suspicion for concealed blast injuries in terms of hospitalization and observation. In addition, health systems need to develop a cost-effective strategy considering the possibility of delayed-onset blast injuries.

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Availability of data and materials

All data that are relevant for the study are included in this published article. Further datasets analyzed during the current study are available from the corresponding author on reasonable request.

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Acknowledgements

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Funding

The authors declare that they received no funding for this study.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of General Surgery, Somalia Turkey Recep Tayyip Erdogan Education and Research Hospital, University of Health Sciences, Mogadishu, Somalia

    Sadettin Er

  2. Department of Radiology, Somalia Turkey Recep Tayyip Erdogan Education and Research Hospital, University of Health Sciences, Mogadishu, Somalia

    Mehmet Tahtabasi

Authors
  1. Sadettin Er
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  2. Mehmet Tahtabasi
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Contributions

SE and MT designed the study. MT and SE contributed equally to this work. MT analyzed and interpreted the data with SE. MT and SE wrote the manuscript. SE provided scientific support and valuable advice. All authors proofread the manuscript and revised it critically. All authors read and approved the final manuscript.

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Sadettin Er.

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Conflict of interest

The authors declare that they have no competing interests.

Ethics approval

All procedures performed in studies involving human participants were in accordance with the ethical standards of institutional and/or national research committees and with the 1964 Declaration of Helsinki and its later amendments or comparable ethical standards. The research project was approved by Somalia Turkey Recep Tayyip Erdogan Education and Research Hospital Institutional Review Board No. MSTH-3409, 12.02.2020.

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Written informed consent was obtained from the patients and their families before any examination or treatment was performed.

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Er, S., Tahtabasi, M. Thoracoabdominal injuries after a bomb explosion: blast injuries and their clinical effects. Eur J Trauma Emerg Surg 48, 273–282 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00068-020-01539-2

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00068-020-01539-2

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