Hand injuries at mulago hospital: The pattern and early outcome
| dc.creator | Makobore, Patson | |
| dc.date | 2013-03-01T11:31:30Z | |
| dc.date | 2013-03-01T11:31:30Z | |
| dc.date | 2007 | |
| dc.date.accessioned | 2018-09-04T12:49:44Z | |
| dc.date.available | 2018-09-04T12:49:44Z | |
| dc.description | A Dissertation submitted to the graduate school as a requirement for the partial fulfillment of the award of Master of Surgery degree of Makerere University. | |
| dc.description | INTRODUCTION: Hand injuries are common worldwide. They account for 10-15% of admissions in emergency departments in the developed world. In USA, 18 million hand injuries are seen every year. This is attributed to industrialization and increased use of machines. Over 70% of major hand injuries follow machines and are preventable. The outcome of hand injuries in developed countries is good, but poor in developing countries. There are a lot of studies done on hand injuries worldwide, but very little has been done in developing countries, Uganda inclusive. This is besides the heavy financial losses of treatment, job loss and time off duty as a result of hand injuries. In Uganda and Mulago hospital in particular, the nly unpublished data available is from a study done 17 years ago by katerega. He reported that 6.2% of trauma admissions in emergency department were due to hand injuries. Because of industrialization and increased use of machines, change in patterns, there was need for new data. OBJECTIVES: The objective of this study was to determine the pattern and early outcomes of the hand injuries as seen at Mulago Hospital. METHODS: The study was a descriptive cohort study. The study setting was the A/E unit, surgical wards and surgical outpatients unit of Mulago Hospital. The study population constituted all patients with hand injuries seen at mulago hospital, between October 2006 and February and who fulfilled inclusion criteria. Consecutive patients with hand Injuries after Triage and assessment were interviewed by principal investigator or Research Assistant. Patients were reviewed at two weeks and one month. The presence of pain, nerve function and gross functions of the hand were assessed at follow up. RESULTS: A Total of 138 patients were enrolled. Of these, 122 patients returned for follow up. The socio-demographic features were as follows: The majority of the patients were males(83%). The age range 20-29 years, was commonest (38%) injured. Eighty percent of patients were of moderate education. That is, primary and secondary school. Seventy percent of participants were unskilled and semiskilled. The commonest places for occurrence of hand injuries was work places, home and RTC, which were 36%, 28%, 23% respectively. Machines (21.3%) were the commonest cause of hand injuries. Knives caused (10.3%), while glass caused (10.3%). Only 37% of patients with hand injuries had x- ray taken. No other investigation was done. Ninety Six(69.6%) patients were attended to within six hours. Interns and SHO attended to most patients(72%). Six-three(51%) patients still had pain at one month. Sixty-four (52%) patients had healed at the end of one month. CONCLUSION: Fifty percent of the participants had healed at the end of the study. The people at risk of hand injuries are males in their twenties The commonest cause of hand injuries are machines. Most hand injuries occur at work places. | |
| dc.identifier | ||
| dc.identifier | http://hdl.handle.net/10570/1201 | |
| dc.identifier.uri | http://hdl.handle.net/10570/1201 | |
| dc.language | en | |
| dc.subject | Hand injuries mulago hospital Uganda U.S.A. | |
| dc.title | Hand injuries at mulago hospital: The pattern and early outcome | |
| dc.type | Thesis, masters |