[Gunshot injuries of chest and abdomen (author's transl)]

A total of 51 patients with gunshot injuries of the chest and the abdominal cavity were treated at the Emergency Aid Institute "Pirogov" in Sofia from 1967 to 1976. The series included 45 men and 6 women, with a letality rate amounting to 21.5 per cent (11 patients). In 41 per cent it was a matter of abdominal injury where the letality was the highest (33 per cent). Chest injuries included 33 per cent with 12 per cent letality, while combined chest-abdominal injuries included 26 per cent with 14 per cent letality. Involvement of the small and large intestine showed the highest incidence of all abdominal organs (37 per cent). Traumatic-hemorrhagic shock and acute respiraotyr insufficiency prevailed. The operative tacties resorted to was strictly individual. In combined lesions of treatment of respiratory insufficiency, parenchymatous organs and major blood vessels has priority over the treatment of hollow organs.