Mechanism and Type of Ear Injuries among Iranian Veterans during Iraq-Iran War

Abstract

Introduction: Determining distribution of war injuries and the related mechanisms could provide attitudes in order to lower risks and expenses of war injuries as well as mortality. Ear injuries are of a high importance among battle-related injuries because of their dramatic impressions on quality of life of militants. So we aimed to determine the mechanism and type of ear injuries among Iranian veterans during Iraq-Iran war. Methods: In this cross-sectional study 207 cases of Iranian veterans with ear injuries during the Iraq-Iran war have been evaluated retrospectively between June and September 2016. We included veterans with ear injuries in association or absence of other organs injuries, randomly. Frequency and mechanism of injuries were recorded as well as chief complaints of patients. Mean, standard deviation and percentages were determined by descriptive analysis. Results: Eventually 207 male veterans with mean age of 52.18±5.28 years were included in the study. Mean duration of war participation was 2.60±1.91 months. Shock wave was the most prevalent mechanism of injury with 202(97.6%) cases followed by direct bullet injury 3(1.4%) and blast injury (0.5%). Decreased hearing and vertigo were the most common (83%) chief complaint of patients followed by decreased hearing alone (56%) and tinnitus (2.9%). Conclusion: Our findings showed that decreased hearing is the most prevalent pathology among Iranian veterans with ear injuries during Iraq-Iran war. Tinnitus did not comprise a remarkable part of chief complaints. Also we found that shock wave is the most prevalent mechanism of ear injury.