Serious childhood injuries caused by air guns.

OBJECTIVE: To determine the severity of nonfatal injuries to children caused by air guns and pellet guns. DESIGN: Case series (hospital chart review). SETTING: Inpatient wards of the Children''s Hospital of Eastern Ontario. PATIENTS: All children under 18 years of age admitted to the hospital from Jan. 1, 1979, to Dec. 31, 1989, under ICD code E917, E922, E955, E965, E970 or E985 who had suffered air gun injuries. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Personal data, circumstances of event and clinical data. RESULTS: The 43 children (37 boys) had a median age of 12 years. The circumstances of the accident were known in 20 cases: 17 children were playing and 3 were cleaning the gun when it went off. Four children thought the gun was unloaded. In five cases the bullet ricocheted into the eye. Nine injuries were self-inflicted. Injury was to the extremities in 21 (49%), the eyes in 15 (35%) and the head and neck in 7 (16%). The median length of hospital stay was 4 days. Six children had long-term disabilities, all the result of eye injuries; two had cataract surgery, and four required enucleation of the eye. CONCLUSIONS: Air guns can cause serious injury to children. Their sale needs to be banned or at least carefully regulated.