Pattern Of Hand Injury In Patients Seen At Kenyatta National Hospital

Abstract

Background: Hand injuries are common worldwide and are among the leading cause of financial loss and disability among the human population. This study‟s aim is to establish the pattern of hand injuries in patients seen at Kenyatta National Hospital (KNH). Objectives: To determine the pattern of hand injuries in patients seen at Kenyatta National Hospital. Methodology and study setting: This is a cross sectional descriptive study which was carried out at KNH casualty, wards and hand clinic in 3 months‟ period between March and May 2019.The target population was patients who presented with acute hand injuries and fulfilled the inclusion criteria. A sample size of 80 patients was established using the Cochrane‟s formula and a simple random sampling technique used to select the participants. Data collected included the cause of the injuries, nature of the injuries and the severity of these injuries was calculated using Modified Hand Injury Severity Score. Data analysis: This research used student t- tests for interval data and Chi square for categorical data to analyze the differences in patterns of hand injuries among the patients. The data was then analyzed using SPSS version 24. Results: Majority of the patients who suffered hand injuries were males constituting 90% of all cases compared to females at 10%. Majority of hand injuries were due to industrial machines (26.3%) followed by motorcycle accidents (20%). All patients who suffered hand injuries had not worn protective gears on the hands during the time of the injury. Fractures constituted majority of hand injuries (42.5%) followed by tendon injuries (25%) and traumatic amputations of the digits (22.5%). Most patients suffered minor injuries (37.5%) based on Modified Hand Injury Severity Scoring system. Major injuries contributed 26%, moderate injuries 23% with the least number of patients sustaining severe injuries (14%). Conclusions: Male gender is more prone to hand injuries compared to female gender. Hand injuries commonly occur at workplace with industrial machine related injuries being the leading cause. Majority of hand injuries fall under the category of minor injuries with severe injuries constituting the least number of injuries. xii Recommendations: Institutions need to develop clear policies on how to handle industrial machines safely. People handling industrial machines, farmyard machines should be encouraged to use protective gloves in order to minimize hand injuries. The government needs to include protective gloves as part of mandatory protective gears to all motorcyclists to minimize hand injuries among the motorcyclists.