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Once it has stopped bleeding and been cleaned, a knife wound can look like no more than a deep scratch. But it is much more: it exudes evil. In an environment where everyone is working to help others it seems incredible that there are people who so directly aim to do the opposite.
The consequences for the victim range from trivial to fatal, as in the recent tragic case of 15-year-old Kiyan Prince, who was stabbed outside his north London school. With luck, having penetrated the skin, the knife will cut merely muscle. But there is every chance it will sever a large artery and the victim will likely die of a haemorrhage before arriving at the hospital.
Even if the patient is relatively stable, that small red hole still presents a difficult problem to the medical team, because there is no easy way to tell what has been
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damaged below the surface. A wound to the abdomen may have nicked part of the intestines, resulting in a leak of bowel contents. Several days later this could erupt into a widespread infection. The surgeons must decide whether to simply observe the patient carefully for a few days, or open them up in theatre in the hope they will be able to spot any damaged organs.
Despite the recent news, knifing victims actually seem relatively few and far between in Accident and Emergency, though two recently arrived just one week apart. Both of these were the result of fights that ended with a stabbing in the buttock. I wondered if the assailant had believed he would thereby inflict only minor damage (if he'd hit the sciatic nerve, the victims leg would have been paralysed). I also wondered if these patients had also had knives in their hands. 
FIRST POSTED JUNE 7, 2006
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