Hospital stage of chest gunshot wound management in civil population under local military conflicts

Objective. The objective of the study is to distinguish the peculiarities of diagnostic maneuver in civil patients with chest gunshot wounds under local military conflict. Materials and Methods. A total of 106 patients from among the civilian population with chest gunshot wounds were enrolled in the trial. The average age of wounded was 30±2 years. Males prevailed and accounted for 86 %. In 85 cases (80,1 %) the authors dealt with different caliber gunshot wounds. Shotgun pellet was fixed in 6 patients (5,6 %) and shells splinters, fragments of bombs or grenades were observed in 15 patients (14,1 %). Results and Discussion. The studies show that in a city hospital diagnosis of gunshot wounds under local military conflict is based on physical examination. It reveals absolute signs and a set of relative signs, which allow to determine penetrating chest gunshot wounds and to continue the examination using special techniques. Chest X-ray examination is obligatory for diagnosing gunshot wounds.