EPIDEMIOLOGY AND AETIOLOGY OF HAND INJURIES IN PAEDIATRIC POPULATION

Abstract

Introduction Understanding the incidence and causality of paediatric hand injuries may be vital in injury prevention, training and treatment priority. However, few papers have addressed this subject. Aim The aim of the study was to identify the epidemiology and cause of hand injuries in the paediatric population. Material and methods The study group in the retrospective study included 291 patients (74 female, 271 male) aged 1–18 years old (mean age = 12.2; SD = 4.5). The cause of injury and diagnosis were taken from the hospital database. Institutional Review Board (IRB) approval was obtained. Results Data on the type of injury was collected and divided into nine groups, seven of which were used in the analysis: 5.2% were dislocations, 8.9% open fractures, 42.6% closed fractures, 12.7% isolated tendon injuries, 18.3% multiple tendon injuries, 4.8% subamputations and 15.4% amputations. Also, 54.5% of all injuries concerned the right upper limb, 45.4% the left, and 0.01% both upper limbs. Sex did not influence the injury incidence. However, age influenced the occurrence of closed fractures (mean age = 9.8; SD = 5.6; p < 0.02), isolated tendon injuries (mean age = 13.3; SD = 4.5; p < 0.04) and amputations (mean age = 10.5; SD = 4.9; p < 0.007). The main causes were sport training (29.8%), agricultural machine accidents (15.3%) and contact with sharp objects (14.5%). Conclusions Our current results show clear age-based trends in the epidemiology and causation of certain hand injuries in the paediatric population. These should be taken into account in special prevention programs.