Gill Mackenzie and Tricia Scott consider the emergency management of stabbing injuries

Low velocity penetrating injuries commonly occur in the younger adult male. In a study of 80, 20-39 year olds in a Teeside hospital, 71 cases of penetrating injuries involved males. Within this group, four categories emerged; 20 stabbing injuries, four traumatic amputations and three gunshot wounds (1). From these figures it is necessary to clarify the meaning of the terms laceration and stabbing. 'Hie former is a tear to the flesh causing disruption of the skin structure, the latter is classified as a low velocity penetrating injury in which trauma is caused by a single blade, but may be multiple. This is compared with medium and high energy trauma associated with firearms, where tumble and fragmentation of bullets lead to secondary tissue trauma (2).