Outpatient antibiotic treatment of uncomplicated gunshot wounds: ramifications for military use

Recent literature on the treatment of gunshot wound (GSW) injuries is based on civilian studies from large urban areas in the United States. These studies have challenged the need to hospitalize patients suffering from minor GSW injuries. Instead, these patients are treated in an outpatient setting. The feasibility of extrapolating similar therapeutic intervention in the military is discussed. Combatants experiencing a single, minor GSW injury may require only oral antibiotic treatment on an outpatient basis. In an operational setting, this type of therapeutic intervention would preclude a costly course of intravenous antibiotic therapy with hospitalization and, more importantly, expedite the return of the combatant to his/her command.