Patrizio Petrone (Mineola, NY / US), Jordi Marín García (Mineola, NY / US), Javier Dagnesses Fonseca (Mineola, NY / US), John McNelis (Bronx, NY / US), Corrado Marini (Bronx, NY / US)
Introduction. The treatment of patients injured by accidental or intentional explosions by healthcare professionals requires an in-depth understanding of the many factors associated with the reported high mortality and morbidity. Currently, there are few studies that describe the risk factors for mortality and the profiles of blast injuries (Figure 1) in the civilian or military population.
Methods. A review of articles published between January 2014 and March 2024 regarding explosions and meeting inclusion criteria was undertaken to identify injury patterns and to compare risk factors predictive of mortality in the civilian and military population.
Results. Sixteen articles underwent full review. The average age of injured people with a male percentage of 79.4% was 40 years (SD ± 3.65). They were older in the civilian group when compared to the military (40 vs 24.5 year-old, respectively). While there was no difference in the overall number of injuries between the two groups there was an increase in the incidence of injuries at the cranial and thoracic level in the civilian population compared to the military population (31.9% and 20.4% vs 18.1% and 9.9%, respectively). The civilian population had a not significantly lower risk of death (OR = 0.96; 95% CI = 0.82 - 1.13).
Conclusion. While there are consistent similarities between victims of civilian and war-related explosions (Figure 2), the general rule is that clinical experience with one type of explosion cannot be directly transferred to other types.
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