Trauma, firearms, and pregnancy: Beyond the cushion.

Flora S Park, Jeffry Nahmias, Jordan Shin, Ji Young Li, Cristobal Barrios, Sebastian Schubl, Areg Grigorian

Abstract read

In one paragraph

Article in Surgery open science, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Not yet cited in PubMed.

0numbers the graph read from it

0cells of the map it votes in

0citing papers in PubMed

–field-weighted citation impact

1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

0 citing papers in PubMed.

No citing paper in PubMed yet.

4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

7 authors.

Flora S ParkDepartment of Surgery, Division of Trauma, Burns and Surgical Critical Care, University of California, Irvine School of Medicine, 3800 Chapman Ave. #6200, Orange, CA 92868, USA.

Jeffry NahmiasDepartment of Surgery, Division of Trauma, Burns and Surgical Critical Care, University of California, Irvine School of Medicine, 3800 Chapman Ave. #6200, Orange, CA 92868, USA.

Jordan ShinDepartment of Surgery, Division of Trauma, Burns and Surgical Critical Care, University of California, Irvine School of Medicine, 3800 Chapman Ave. #6200, Orange, CA 92868, USA.

Ji Young LiDepartment of Surgery, Division of Trauma, Burns and Surgical Critical Care, University of California, Irvine School of Medicine, 3800 Chapman Ave. #6200, Orange, CA 92868, USA.

Cristobal BarriosDepartment of Surgery, Division of Trauma, Burns and Surgical Critical Care, University of California, Irvine School of Medicine, 3800 Chapman Ave. #6200, Orange, CA 92868, USA.

Sebastian SchublDepartment of Surgery, Division of Trauma, Burns and Surgical Critical Care, University of California, Irvine School of Medicine, 3800 Chapman Ave. #6200, Orange, CA 92868, USA.

Areg GrigorianDepartment of Surgery, Division of Trauma, Burns and Surgical Critical Care, University of California, Irvine School of Medicine, 3800 Chapman Ave. #6200, Orange, CA 92868, USA.

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Background: Pregnancy introduces unique anatomical and physiological changes that could influence injury susceptibility, including redistribution of abdominal organs and adipose tissue that could provide a protective "cushion effect" against penetrating trauma. This study aimed to understand how injury patterns and clinical outcomes differ between pregnant trauma patients (PTPs) and their non-pregnant counterparts presenting after penetrating trauma, hypothesizing that PTPs have a lower mortality risk and incur less severe abdominal injuries due to the proposed cushion effect. Methods: The 2020-2021 Trauma Quality Improvement Program database was queried for all female patients <50-years-old presenting after penetrating trauma. The primary outcome was mortality, and secondary outcomes included the incidence of gunshot wounds and abdominal injuries. We compared pregnant versus non-pregnant patients with bivariate and multivariable logistic regression analyses. Results: From 25,812 female patients, 531 (2.1 %) were PTPs. Gunshot wounds were more prevalent among PTPs (64.2 % vs. 46.0 %, Discussion: The prevalence of firearm violence emphasizes the need for targeted primary preventive strategies for PTPs. Furthermore, the heightened vulnerability of PTPs to gastrointestinal injuries following penetrating trauma, potentially attributed to the gravid uterus's spatial changes, challenges any proposed "cushion effect."

Indexed as

Gastrointestinal injuryOutcomesPenetrating traumaPregnancy

Identifiers

PMID40337157

DOI10.1016/j.sopen.2025.04.003

PMCPMC12056950

What Socratic holds

Textmetadata

LicenceCC BY

Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the Socratic graph.