Victims of terrorism-related disasters: experience of a hospital on the border of Iraq

INTRODUCTION: We aimed to analyze the data of patients who were admitted to our emergency department (ED) because of terrorism-related injuries. MATERIAL AND METHODS: We have retrospectively analyzed the patients who were admitted to a state hospital’s ED with terrorism-related injuries between 01.01.2016 and 01.01.2018. The data about mechanism of injury, injured body part, Abbreviated Injury Scale scores, management, and outcomes: discharge from the ED, hospitalization to the ward, transfer to the operation room and/or intensive care unit, transfer to a tertiary hospital, the length of stay in the hospital, exitus, and re-admission were analyzed. RESULTS: Of the 296 patients admitted, 93.9% were male and 6.1% were female, and 14.2% of the cases were children. Gunshot wounds represented 66.2% of the cases, whereas 33.8% of them had explosion injuries. Overall ED mortality rate was 15.5%. The mortality rate was higher in gunshot wounds. The most affected regions were the extremities, pelvis and external organs. Thorax injuries had the highest rate of mortality. Of the patients, 42.2% were discharged from the ED. The highest rate of ED discharge was with extremities, pelvis and external organ injuries. The ED mortality rate in the pediatric group was 21.4%. Gunshot wounded group had a higher mortality rate. Similar to adults the highest mortality rate was in the thoracic injury group. CONCLUSIONS: Because of the variety of injuries, the management of terrorism victims requires a broad perspective. We think that the ED mortality rate can be used to assess the quality of the critical care provided.