[Possibility of serious damage when handling air guns]

The possibilities of serious injury being caused by firearms are well known. Less known is the fact that air guns also have such potential. We present the case of a six year old boy shot in the back with an air gun at a distance of four meters. Vital signs were normal. A small entrance wound was found in the back. On a CT scan, an air gun pellet was found to be situated partly inside the posterior wall of the stomach. There was no sign of peritonitis or complications of any other kind so one chose to await the course of events without surgical intervention. A few days later the patient was discharged in good health. An X-ray taken some days later showed no projectile; it seems to have migrated into the gastrointestinal tract and been shed along with faeces. The available literature suggests that air guns have considerable penetration abilities; this case underlines that. Articles on this subject are summarized and we discuss the options available in similar cases.