Occupational hand injury patterns at Avicenna University Hospital

Abstract

Objectives: To document the pattern of occupational hand injuries seen at our emergency department and to obtain information for establishing preventive measures in the workplace. Patients and methods: We report our experience with a retrospective study of 144 cases of occupational hand injuries managed at our institution from April 2014 to September 2015. Age, sex, injury localization and type, accompanying injuries, work context, functional prognosis, and ability to integrate into original work after therapeutic management and physiotherapy were studied. Results: There were 133 men and 11 women; the mean age was 30.84 ± 11.94 years and the sex ratio was 12. The most commonly affected age range was 20–29 years; the right hand (68%) and fingers (70.13%) were the most commonly injured sites. The woodwork and construction industries had the highest injury rate (47.92%). The most common injuries were open fractures (27%) and tendon injuries (19%). Physiotherapy was carried out 1–3 months following surgical treatment in 105 patients (72.9%). Partial permanent disability, established in patients after recovery, ranged from 5% to 45%. At the 8-month follow-up, only 87 patients (60.4%) had returned to their original occupation. Conclusion: Hand injuries are common in the workplace and affect mostly active and working-age people. Preventive measures are required and should receive appropriate attention and resources.