Resumo Objetivo Investigar a incidência de infecção em pacientes com fraturas por arma de fogo, e correlacionar esse achado com a ocorrência de desbridamento cirúrgico na sala de emergência. Métodos Estudo retrospectivo, observacional e descritivo, que incluiu todos os casos de fraturas causadas por armas de fogo entre janeiro de 2010 e dezembro de 2014; foram incluídas 245 fraturas em 223 pacientes. Resultados Houve infecção do local cirúrgico em 8,5% das fraturas, e a média de desbridamentos necessários para controlar o processo infeccioso foi de 1,273 ± 0,608. Foi identificada correlação entre o tratamento cirúrgico escolhido e o segmento corporal afetado (p< 0,001). O tratamento cirúrgico na sala de emergência teve correlação com a ocorrência de infecção (p< 0,001; teste do qui-quadrado). Conclusão Pacientes com ferimentos à bala tratados de forma não operatória apresentaram lesões menos graves e estáveis; portanto, a incidência de complicações nesse grupo foi menor. Por outro lado, os pacientes com lesões complexas foram aqueles submetidos a desbridamento e fixação externa. Portanto, como esperado, foi encontrado um maior número de complicações infecciosas em pacientes submetidos à fixação externa.

Abstract Objective To investigate the incidence of infection in patients with gunshot-related fractures, and to correlate this finding with the occurrence of surgical debridement in the emergency room. Methods A retrospective, observational, descriptive study that included all cases of fractures caused by firearms between January 2010 and December 2014; 245 fractures in 223 patients were included. Results There was surgical-site infection in 8.5% of the fractures, and the mean number of debridements required to control the infectious process was of 1.273 ± 0.608. A correlation was identified between the surgical treatment chosen and the affected body segment (p< 0.001). The surgical treatment in the emergency room had a correlation with the occurrence of infection (p< 0.001; Chi-squared test). Conclusion Patients with gunshot injuries treated non-operatively presented less severe and stable lesions; thus, the incidence of complications in this group was found to be lower. On the other hand, those patients with complex lesions underwent debridement and external fixation. Therefore, a greater number of infectious complications in patients submitted to external fixation was found, as expected.

ABSTRACTOBJECTIVE: To investigate the influence of patients' age on the delay between diagnosis and surgical treatment of proximal femoral fracturesMETHODS: This is a retrospective study, con-ducted at a tertiary university hospital, including all patients admitted with proximal femoral fractures between March 2013 and March 2014. The participants were categorized into four groups according to age levels. The groups were compared according to demographics, comorbidities, fracture type, trau-ma circumstances, and time between diagnosis and surgical procedureRESULTS: One hundred and sixty one patients were included, 37 adults and 124 elderly. Among adults, the mean delay between diagnosis and surgical procedure was 6.4±5.3 days; among elderly the delay was 9.5±7.6 days. There was a progressive increase in the delay from the young-adults group through the elderly individuals (Kruskal-Wallis: 13.7; p=0.003)CONCLUSION: In spite of being the patients most susceptible to complications due to surgical delay, the elderly individuals pre-sented the longest delays from admission to surgical treatment. Level of Evidence III, Retrospective Study.