Evaluation of hand injury management at the emergency department - are we getting better?

Background/Aim. Hand injuries are one of the most common injuries seen in emergency departments. Inadequate treatment can lead to prolonged healing, complications, significant morbidity, and serious disability. The aim of this study was to evaluate the epidemiology, risk factors, and treatment of ha...

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Main Authors: Nikolić Jelena, Marinković Marija, Leković Dragana, Đozić Isidora
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Ministry of Defence of the Republic of Serbia, University of Defence, Belgrade 2022-01-01
Series:Vojnosanitetski Pregled
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Online Access:http://www.doiserbia.nb.rs/img/doi/0042-8450/2022/0042-84502100035N.pdf
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author Nikolić Jelena
Marinković Marija
Leković Dragana
Đozić Isidora
author_facet Nikolić Jelena
Marinković Marija
Leković Dragana
Đozić Isidora
author_sort Nikolić Jelena
collection DOAJ
description Background/Aim. Hand injuries are one of the most common injuries seen in emergency departments. Inadequate treatment can lead to prolonged healing, complications, significant morbidity, and serious disability. The aim of this study was to evaluate the epidemiology, risk factors, and treatment of hand injuries in one tertiary care level clinical center. Methods. This study was designed as a descriptive retrospective epidemiological study that involved all patients with hand injuries treated at the University Clinical Center of Vojvodina, Novi Sad, Serbia for seven years. The authors collected sociodemographic and clinical data such as age, gender, mechanism of injury, type of injury, days of hospitalization, type of defect reconstruction, the time of in-jury, the timing of surgery, and reasons for operative treatment delay. For every hospitalized patient the Modified Hand Injury Severity Score (MHISS) was calculated. All data were analyzed using SPSS IBM 21.0 software. Results. From 2012 to 2018, 34,796 patients were treated for hand injury at the University Clinical Center of Vojvodina, with 554 (1.6%) hospitalized patients. The mean age of patients was 43.2 years; the majority of them (87.55%) were men, and most (47.2%) were injured at home. Most injuries occurred during knife handling. The average length of stay for hospitalized patients was 4 days. MHISS score for most patients was over 50 and was classified a s severe. It was noticed that the waiting time for operation became shorter throughout the selected years. Conclusion. Hand injuries present a complex problem that can sometimes be underestimated by patients. The requirement of highly specialized hand surgeons, sometimes special equipment (e.g., microscope), multiple operations, prolonged rehabilitation, possible invalidity, and high cost of treatment calls for careful evaluation of the problem and the development of proper strategies in order to be able to lower the costs and obtain better medical care for all people with higher injury risk.
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spelling doaj-art-5b3a4d79871d419daf63afb965bfc9972025-08-20T02:05:13ZengMinistry of Defence of the Republic of Serbia, University of Defence, BelgradeVojnosanitetski Pregled0042-84502406-07202022-01-0179875776310.2298/VSP200308035N0042-84502100035NEvaluation of hand injury management at the emergency department - are we getting better?Nikolić Jelena0Marinković Marija1Leković Dragana2Đozić Isidora3University of Novi Sad, Faculty of Medicine, Novi Sad, Serbia + University Clinical Center of Vojvodina, Clinic for Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery, Novi Sad, SerbiaUniversity of Novi Sad, Faculty of Medicine, Novi Sad, Serbia + University Clinical Center of Vojvodina, Clinic for Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery, Novi Sad, SerbiaUniversity Clinical Center of Vojvodina, Clinic for Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery, Novi Sad, SerbiaUniversity Clinical Center of Vojvodina, Clinic for Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery, Novi Sad, SerbiaBackground/Aim. Hand injuries are one of the most common injuries seen in emergency departments. Inadequate treatment can lead to prolonged healing, complications, significant morbidity, and serious disability. The aim of this study was to evaluate the epidemiology, risk factors, and treatment of hand injuries in one tertiary care level clinical center. Methods. This study was designed as a descriptive retrospective epidemiological study that involved all patients with hand injuries treated at the University Clinical Center of Vojvodina, Novi Sad, Serbia for seven years. The authors collected sociodemographic and clinical data such as age, gender, mechanism of injury, type of injury, days of hospitalization, type of defect reconstruction, the time of in-jury, the timing of surgery, and reasons for operative treatment delay. For every hospitalized patient the Modified Hand Injury Severity Score (MHISS) was calculated. All data were analyzed using SPSS IBM 21.0 software. Results. From 2012 to 2018, 34,796 patients were treated for hand injury at the University Clinical Center of Vojvodina, with 554 (1.6%) hospitalized patients. The mean age of patients was 43.2 years; the majority of them (87.55%) were men, and most (47.2%) were injured at home. Most injuries occurred during knife handling. The average length of stay for hospitalized patients was 4 days. MHISS score for most patients was over 50 and was classified a s severe. It was noticed that the waiting time for operation became shorter throughout the selected years. Conclusion. Hand injuries present a complex problem that can sometimes be underestimated by patients. The requirement of highly specialized hand surgeons, sometimes special equipment (e.g., microscope), multiple operations, prolonged rehabilitation, possible invalidity, and high cost of treatment calls for careful evaluation of the problem and the development of proper strategies in order to be able to lower the costs and obtain better medical care for all people with higher injury risk.http://www.doiserbia.nb.rs/img/doi/0042-8450/2022/0042-84502100035N.pdfemergency service, hospital; hand injuriesemergency service, hospitalhand injuriesseverity indices treatment outcome
spellingShingle Nikolić Jelena
Marinković Marija
Leković Dragana
Đozić Isidora
Evaluation of hand injury management at the emergency department - are we getting better?
Vojnosanitetski Pregled
emergency service, hospital; hand injuries
emergency service, hospital
hand injuries
severity indices
treatment outcome
title Evaluation of hand injury management at the emergency department - are we getting better?
title_full Evaluation of hand injury management at the emergency department - are we getting better?
title_fullStr Evaluation of hand injury management at the emergency department - are we getting better?
title_full_unstemmed Evaluation of hand injury management at the emergency department - are we getting better?
title_short Evaluation of hand injury management at the emergency department - are we getting better?
title_sort evaluation of hand injury management at the emergency department are we getting better
topic emergency service, hospital; hand injuries
emergency service, hospital
hand injuries
severity indices
treatment outcome
url http://www.doiserbia.nb.rs/img/doi/0042-8450/2022/0042-84502100035N.pdf
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AT lekovicdragana evaluationofhandinjurymanagementattheemergencydepartmentarewegettingbetter
AT đozicisidora evaluationofhandinjurymanagementattheemergencydepartmentarewegettingbetter