[Pathological zonation of gunshot wounds and its guidance on the treatment methods]

The Chinese investigators separated bullet wounds into three zones in the beginning of 1980s: a primary wound tract, a contusion zone adjacent to prinary wound tract, and a concussion zone neighboring the contusion zone. Basing on the research results by MRI scan and pathological observation, the author and his coworkers recently proposed that the gunshot wounds should be divided into four consecutive zones: a primary wound tract, a zone of coagulative necrosis, a zone of muscle disruption, and a zone of muscle distortion. A zone of coagulative necrosis plus a zone of muscle disruption equals to a contusion zone, they are separately named because the former is irreversibly devitalized and the latter still has the ability to recover. The sectionalized method shows the range of debridement and provide reference for the conservative treatment or thoroughly debridement. However, the mechanism of each zone need to be further studied.