• J. Am. Coll. Surg. · Jun 2017

    Multicenter Study Comparative Study

    Selective Nonoperative Management of Abdominal Gunshot Wounds from Heresy to Adoption: A Multicenter Study of the Research Consortium of New England Centers for Trauma (ReCoNECT).

    • Thomas Peponis, George Kasotakis, Jielin Yu, Reginald Alouidor, Barbara Burkott, Adrian A Maung, Dirk C Johnson, Noelle Saillant, Heath Walden, Ali Salim, Elizabeth Bryant, Jon D Dorfman, Eric N Klein, Ronen Elefant, Maryam B Tabrizi, Nikolay Bugaev, Sandra S Arabian, and George C Velmahos.
    • Department of Surgery, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, MA.
    • J. Am. Coll. Surg. 2017 Jun 1; 224 (6): 1036-1045.

    BackgroundSelective nonoperative management (SNOM) of abdominal gunshot wounds is being practiced in certain trauma centers, but its broader acceptance in the surgical community is unknown. We hypothesized that SNOM has been adopted in New England as an acceptable method of abdominal gunshot wound management.Study DesignWe reviewed the medical records of abdominal gunshot wound patients admitted from January 1996 to June 2015, in 10 New England Level I and II trauma centers. Outcomes included the incidence, success, and failure of SNOM, and morbidity and mortality related to SNOM.ResultsOf 922 patients, 707 (77%) received immediate laparotomy (IMMLAP) and 215 (23%) were managed by SNOM. Compared with IMMLAP patients, those with SNOM had a lower median Injury Severity Score (16 vs 8; p < 0.001), lower incidence of complications (34.7% vs 8.5%; p < 0.001) and mortality (5.2% vs 0.5%; p = 0.002), and shorter ICU and hospital stays (median days 1 of 8 vs 0 of 2, respectively; p < 0.001). One SNOM patient died after 3 days due to a gunshot wound to the head. The overall incidence of SNOM increased from 18% before 2010 to 27% in the following years (p = 0.001). Eighteen patients (8.4%) had unsuccessful SNOM and underwent delayed laparotomy at an average of 12.5 hours (range 141 minutes to 48 hours) after arrival. Nine of them (4.2%) experienced complications that were not directly related to the delayed laparotomy, and none died. The rate of nontherapeutic laparotomies was 14.7% among IMMLAP and 5.5% among delayed laparotomy patients (p = 0.49).ConclusionsSelective nonoperative management of abdominal gunshot wounds, despite being a heresy only a few years ago, has now been established as an acceptable method of management in Level I and II trauma centers in New England.Copyright © 2017 American College of Surgeons. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

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