Bacterial infections developed in about 5 percent of American adults hospitalized with firearm injuries, and the risk was concentrated among patients who needed surgery on the head, neck, spine, liver, or lower abdomen.
The finding comes from an analysis of 24,024 adults admitted to 323 hospitals nationwide, published as a research letter in JAMA Network Open. Researchers at the University of Maryland School of Medicine identified 1,236 patients, or 5.1 percent, who developed a bacterial infection. Most appeared during the initial hospitalization rather than after discharge.
