Half of the world’s civilian firearms are owned by individuals in the United States. The U.S. also leads all high-income countries for gunshot wound (GSW)-related deaths, yet little is known about the blood utilization patterns in GSW victims. Researchers analyzed data from the 2016-2017 National Inpatient Sample and National Emergency Department Sample, which included 58,815 weighted inpatient hospitalizations from GSWs and 168,315 weighted emergency department visits due to GSWs. The majority of hospitalizations occurred in men (88.5%) and persons aged 18-24 years (31.8%); most GSW hospitalizations were due to assault-related GSWs (51.3%). The mean charges per hospitalized patient with GSWs was significantly higher than the overall mean patient’s charges (USD $128,508 vs $48,415). Only 1.9% of hospitalized patients with GSWs received all types of blood components—RBCs, plasma, and platelets. RBCs were transfused in 12.0% of hospitalized patients. Hospitalized GSW patients who died (8.2%) were more likely to receive a blood transfusion than survivors were (26.8% vs 12.7%, p<0.001). Although this is one if the first nationwide studies to analyze blood use in GSW among civilians, the actual burden of GSWs in the U.S. is much higher in terms of dollars and resources. Notably, GSW victims who died before arrival at the hospital could not be included. In addition, this study did not capture the long-term physical and mental health care-related costs of GSWs.
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