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Blood lead concentration after a shotgun accident.

Gerhardsson, Lars LU ; Dahlin, Lars LU orcid ; Knebel, Richard LU and Schütz, Andrejs (2002) In Environmental Health Perspectives 110(1). p.115-117
Abstract
In an accidental shooting, a man in his late forties was hit in his left shoulder region by about 60 lead pellets from a shotgun. He had injuries to the vessels, the clavicle, muscles, and nerves, with total paralysis of the left arm due to axonal injury. After several surgical revisions and temporary cover with split skin, reconstructive surgery was carried out 54 days after the accident. The brachial plexus was swollen, but the continuity of the nerve trunks was not broken (no neuroma present). We determined the blood lead (BPb) concentration during a follow-up period of 12 months. The BPb concentration increased considerably during the first months. Although 30 lead pellets were removed during the reconstructive surgery, the BPb... (More)
In an accidental shooting, a man in his late forties was hit in his left shoulder region by about 60 lead pellets from a shotgun. He had injuries to the vessels, the clavicle, muscles, and nerves, with total paralysis of the left arm due to axonal injury. After several surgical revisions and temporary cover with split skin, reconstructive surgery was carried out 54 days after the accident. The brachial plexus was swollen, but the continuity of the nerve trunks was not broken (no neuroma present). We determined the blood lead (BPb) concentration during a follow-up period of 12 months. The BPb concentration increased considerably during the first months. Although 30 lead pellets were removed during the reconstructive surgery, the BPb concentration continued to rise, and reached a peak of 62 microg/dL (3.0 micromol/L) on day 81. Thereafter it started to decline. Twelve months after the accident, BPb had leveled off at about 30 microg/dL. At that time, muscle and sensory functions had partially recovered. The BPb concentration exceeded 30 microg/dL for 9 months, which may have influenced the recovery rate of nerve function. Subjects with a large number of lead pellets or fragments embedded in the body after shooting accidents should be followed for many years by regular determinations of BPb. To obtain a more stable basis for risk assessment, the BPb concentrations should be corrected for variations in the subject's hemoglobin concentration or erythrocyte volume fraction. (Less)
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author
; ; and
organization
publishing date
type
Contribution to journal
publication status
published
subject
keywords
Male, Lead Poisoning : etiology, Reconstructive Surgical Procedures, Risk Assessment, Wounds Gunshot : complications : surgery, Shoulder : injuries : pathology : surgery, Middle Age, Human, Hemoglobins : analysis, Case Report, Foreign Bodies
in
Environmental Health Perspectives
volume
110
issue
1
pages
115 - 117
publisher
National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences
external identifiers
  • wos:000173864000034
  • pmid:11781173
  • scopus:0036153615
ISSN
1552-9924
language
English
LU publication?
yes
id
6579d4df-18e8-493f-aefe-bac7e1ada936 (old id 106788)
alternative location
http://www.ehponline.org/members/2002/110p115-117gerhardsson/gerhardsson-full.html
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov:80/entrez/query.fcgi?cmd=Retrieve&db=PubMed&list_uids=11781173&dopt=Abstract
date added to LUP
2016-04-01 15:52:04
date last changed
2022-01-28 07:38:47
@article{6579d4df-18e8-493f-aefe-bac7e1ada936,
  abstract     = {{In an accidental shooting, a man in his late forties was hit in his left shoulder region by about 60 lead pellets from a shotgun. He had injuries to the vessels, the clavicle, muscles, and nerves, with total paralysis of the left arm due to axonal injury. After several surgical revisions and temporary cover with split skin, reconstructive surgery was carried out 54 days after the accident. The brachial plexus was swollen, but the continuity of the nerve trunks was not broken (no neuroma present). We determined the blood lead (BPb) concentration during a follow-up period of 12 months. The BPb concentration increased considerably during the first months. Although 30 lead pellets were removed during the reconstructive surgery, the BPb concentration continued to rise, and reached a peak of 62 microg/dL (3.0 micromol/L) on day 81. Thereafter it started to decline. Twelve months after the accident, BPb had leveled off at about 30 microg/dL. At that time, muscle and sensory functions had partially recovered. The BPb concentration exceeded 30 microg/dL for 9 months, which may have influenced the recovery rate of nerve function. Subjects with a large number of lead pellets or fragments embedded in the body after shooting accidents should be followed for many years by regular determinations of BPb. To obtain a more stable basis for risk assessment, the BPb concentrations should be corrected for variations in the subject's hemoglobin concentration or erythrocyte volume fraction.}},
  author       = {{Gerhardsson, Lars and Dahlin, Lars and Knebel, Richard and Schütz, Andrejs}},
  issn         = {{1552-9924}},
  keywords     = {{Male; Lead Poisoning : etiology; Reconstructive Surgical Procedures; Risk Assessment; Wounds Gunshot : complications : surgery; Shoulder : injuries : pathology : surgery; Middle Age; Human; Hemoglobins : analysis; Case Report; Foreign Bodies}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  number       = {{1}},
  pages        = {{115--117}},
  publisher    = {{National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences}},
  series       = {{Environmental Health Perspectives}},
  title        = {{Blood lead concentration after a shotgun accident.}},
  url          = {{http://www.ehponline.org/members/2002/110p115-117gerhardsson/gerhardsson-full.html}},
  volume       = {{110}},
  year         = {{2002}},
}