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03/04/93
Koresh's injury hard to assess; Doctor says sect leader in danger of infection
By Laura Beil / The Dallas Morning News
David Koresh is in danger of a severe infection if, as he says, he was wounded in the stomach during his gunbattle with federal officers four days ago, a Dallas trauma specialist said Wednesday.
Complications from such an infection include intense pain and a high fever, said Dr. Erwin Thal, a professor of surgery at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center.
But it isn't likely that a bullet hit one of Mr. Koresh's arteries.
If it had, the cult leader would have bled to death by now, said Dr. Thal, who also is interim chairman of the medical school's trauma and critical care department.
Even nurses inside the compound would have trouble controlling the bleeding from an artery. "You can say it (the bullet) did not hit a major vessel that is bleeding uncontrollably,' Dr. Thal said.
The doctor said it is difficult to speculate about Mr. Koresh's condition without knowing what kind of bullet hit him or where it hit.
"When one speaks of a stomach wound, it really runs the whole gamut,' he said.
Mr. Koresh and some cult members who have left the compound have reported that a number of other members were wounded during the shootout with federal officers Sunday morning. But reports of those injuries are sketchy, and Dr. Thal said it was impossible to discuss their conditions without more information.
Federal officials said that there are several registered nurses among the 110 Davidians inside and that the compound is well-stocked with medical and food supplies.
In discussing Mr. Koresh's reported wound, Dr. Thal said the bullet probably didn't hit his stomach.
"It's not the organ most frequently injured,' he said. That's because an empty stomach is small-a little larger than a fist- compared to other abdominal organs. The biggest organ is the liver.
Mr. Koresh would be in the best shape if the bullet didn't pierce the peritoneum, the inner membrane lining a person's abdomen. If it didn't go through the peritoneum, which envelops the abdominal organs, the worst complication would be an infection.
However, if the bullet did penetrate the peritoneum, the seriousness of the wound "would run the gamut from nothing to death,' Dr. Thal said.
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