The impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the number of presentations of penetrating injuries to a UK major trauma centre.

Background: Knife-related violence is of growing concern in the UK. This study aims to investigate the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the frequency of penetrating injuries at a UK major trauma centre.

Methods: This was a retrospective study comparing the number of patients attending the emergency department of King's College Hospital (KCH) with a penetrating injury (gunshot or stab wound) during the 'pandemic year' (1 March 2020-28 February 2021) compared with the equivalent time period in the previous year.