Hand injuries presenting to the department of Emergency Medicine: A hospital based descriptive study
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Aim and Objectives: The aim was to describe the hand injuries presenting to the Emergency Medicine department of a tertiary healthcare facility. The study describes the hand injuries in terms of etiology, mechanism of injuries, trends of ED management, including analgesia and tetanus prophylaxis. Methods: This was a hospital based descriptive study of hand injuries conducted in the Department of Emergency Medicine, Sri Manakula Vinayagar Medical College and Hospital, Puducherry, India (tertiary healthcare facility) between October 2022 and September 2023. Results: The present study included a total of 400 patients presenting with hand injuries. The mean (SD) age was 29.43 years (3.81); with 90.8% being males. The mean (SD) delay in presentation was 2.7 hours (0.3). Overall, the mode and mechanism of hand injuries were occupational, or workplace related and were of crushing type. Majority of the patients (65.5%), required NSAIDS for analgesia, followed by narcotic analgesia (26.8%) and local analgesia (7.0%), in that order. Only 0.7% were not given any form of analgesia. Tetanus Toxoid (TT) was given to 92.3% patients. Tetanus immunoglobulin was given to 4.5% patients. A total of 22.2% amputations were noted irrespective of their level or whether they are partial or complete. More than half (55.8%) had no lacerations; 82.0% had no fractures; 97.3% had no dislocation; 86.0% had no tendon injuries; 98.5% had no nerve injuries; and 79.2% had no fingertip injuries. It was found that 87.2% patients had adequate vascularity. Conclusion: This study provides valuable insights into the characteristics, management, and outcomes of patients with hand injuries presenting to the Emergency Medicine department. The findings reveal a diverse spectrum of hand injuries, including amputations, lacerations, fractures, dislocations, tendon and nerve injuries, and fingertip injuries.Abstract
Aim and Objectives: The aim was to describe the hand injuries presenting to the Emergency Medicine department of a tertiary healthcare facility. The study describes the hand injuries in terms of etiology, mechanism of injuries, trends of ED management, including analgesia and tetanus prophylaxis. Methods: This was a hospital based descriptive study of hand injuries conducted in the Department of Emergency Medicine, Sri Manakula Vinayagar Medical College and Hospital, Puducherry, India (tertiary healthcare facility) between October 2022 and September 2023. Results: The present study included a total of 400 patients presenting with hand injuries. The mean (SD) age was 29.43 years (3.81); with 90.8% being males. The mean (SD) delay in presentation was 2.7 hours (0.3). Overall, the mode and mechanism of hand injuries were occupational, or workplace related and were of crushing type. Majority of the patients (65.5%), required NSAIDS for analgesia, followed by narcotic analgesia (26.8%) and local analgesia (7.0%), in that order. Only 0.7% were not given any form of analgesia. Tetanus Toxoid (TT) was given to 92.3% patients. Tetanus immunoglobulin was given to 4.5% patients. A total of 22.2% amputations were noted irrespective of their level or whether they are partial or complete. More than half (55.8%) had no lacerations; 82.0% had no fractures; 97.3% had no dislocation; 86.0% had no tendon injuries; 98.5% had no nerve injuries; and 79.2% had no fingertip injuries. It was found that 87.2% patients had adequate vascularity. Conclusion: This study provides valuable insights into the characteristics, management, and outcomes of patients with hand injuries presenting to the Emergency Medicine department. The findings reveal a diverse spectrum of hand injuries, including amputations, lacerations, fractures, dislocations, tendon and nerve injuries, and fingertip injuries.
