Annals of emergency medicine
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The latest wave of terrorism worldwide has seen significant use by terrorists of mundane, "low-technology" weapons, such as utility knives and civilian vehicles. How do the injuries they produce compare with that of more conventional terrorism mechanisms, such as use of firearms and explosives? We compare injury patterns of the most frequent terrorism-related injury mechanisms in an Israeli data set. ⋯ Despite differences between various terrorist attack mechanisms, the resulting injury severity and inhospital mortality are very similar, with stabbings and vehicular attacks causing injuries as serious as those caused by conventional weapons.