경부 자상의 임상 양상: 단일 기관 후향적 분석

Abstract

Background and Objectives Neck stab wounds should be managed properly as they canresult in life-threatening complications and death. However, guns are prohibited in South Koreaand many previous studies conducted in other countries are thus inapplicable. Also, most ofthe existing case reports deal mostly with profound neck injury and might lead to misunderstandingregarding the severity of injuries when considering neck stab wounds. This study analyzedthe clinical characteristics of neck stab wounds according to the cause of trauma. Subjects and Method A total of 89 patients with neck stab wounds who visited the emergencyroom between January 2005 and June 2017 were enrolled. Medical records and radiological findingswere reviewed retrospectively. The patients were divided into two groups according to thecause of trauma (suicide attempt or assault by another person). A comparative analysis of the twogroups was conducted. Results The patients consisted of 41 cases of (46.1%) attempted suicides and 26 cases of (29.2%)psychiatric disorders. Of these, more than half had superficial wounds above the platysma, andmultiple anatomical lacerations were found in 40 cases (45%). Psychiatric diagnoses were identifiedonly in the attempted-suicide group (p<0.001), and injuries to the posterior neck triangle wereobserved only in the assault-by-another-person group (p=0.029). There were 11 cases (12.4%) ofprofound injury, but there was no significant difference between the two groups. One patient withinjury by another person died due to the cutting of the common carotid artery. Conclusion Superficial injuries were more common while profound injuries were relativelyuncommon in this study. However, physicians should pay attention to proper evaluation and managementcomprehensively in cases of neck stab wounds.