Germany sees 58.8% increase in severe stabbing injuries over 12 years

A 12-year analysis from the TraumaRegister DGU, published in the ‘Deutschen Ärzteblatt’, reveals a significant increase in severe injuries resulting from violent stabbings in Germany. According to the data, the number of severe cases recorded in trauma centers rose from 212 in 2013 to 336 in 2024, representing a 58.8 percent increase.

Despite this rise, these incidents still constitute a relatively small portion of total severe injuries, accounting for approximately 1.26 percent of patients treated in German trauma centers following violent crimes. Prof. Frank Hildebrand, President of the German Society for Orthopaedics and Trauma Surgery (DGOU) and the DGU, noted that treating such injuries has become a much more frequent part of daily clinical practice compared to a decade ago.

The study, which evaluated 3,664 suspected violent stabbing injuries, focused on clinical severity using the Abbreviated Injury Scale (AIS). The researchers emphasized that the registry does not collect data regarding the perpetrators, victims, motivations, or the social and ethnic backgrounds of those involved, meaning the findings do not provide conclusions regarding the social causes or specific criminal environments behind the violence.