RESUMEN
Background: Gunshot injuries are major problems worldwide from the medical and economic perspectives and are associated with profound morbidity and significant mortality. Many previousstudies were focused on specific sites of injury but this study was aimed at the pattern and presentation of the gunshot injuries. Patients and Methods: This was a combined retrospective and prospective study of gunshot injuries in a Nigerian hospital. The medical records of patients with gunshot injuries between January and December 2004 were reviewed. Prospectivedata collection was done between January and October 2005. Results: Total number of patients was 38 and male: female ratio was 18:1. Thirty (78.9) were below the age of 40 years. The locally made dane gun was the instrument of attack in 24 (63.1) and 19 (50.0) of the patients were victims of armed robbery. The most frequently injured sites were the extremities of which the lower limb was 28 (73.7) and the upper limb was in 10 (26.3) patients. Conclusion: It was concluded that gunshot injuries occur more below age of forty years and the limbs were more injured. Armed robbery attack contributed to about half of the attacks and injuries results mainly from locally made dane guns. It was found that pistols were usually loaded with multiple pellets thus there could be multiple entry and exit wounds in patients attacked with pistol in our environment
