Advertisement for orthosearch.org.uk
Orthopaedic Proceedings Logo

Receive monthly Table of Contents alerts from Orthopaedic Proceedings

Comprehensive article alerts can be set up and managed through your account settings

View my account settings

Visit Orthopaedic Proceedings at:

Loading...

Loading...

Full Access

INJURIES OF THE HAND IN A BRITISH FIELD HOSPITAL IN IRAQ



Abstract

Introduction A prospective study of consecutive hand injuries treated at a British Field Hospital revealed a distinctive pattern of injury. This is a unique review of hand injuries in a recent military deployment.

Method Patients presenting to the field hospital with hand injuries over a two-month period were entered into a database.

The parameters studied included mechanism of injury, timing and nature of treatment and ultimate disposal. An anatomical comparison of pattern of injury with six months retrospective data and a literature search was performed.

Results Of nine hundred and thirty one patients attending the hospital in this period, fifty-three had injuries to the hand.

Only seven cases resulted from battle injuries. Of the remainder, thirty-three were work related and the 13 were due to sport.

Twenty-eight of the patients required a surgical procedure; the mean time to surgery was 1.7 hours.

Twelve patients were subsequently aero medically evacuated.

Conclusion Wounds of conflict account for a small proportion of hand injuries seen in the operational environment. The injury pattern seen reflects Daily Non-Battle Injury (DNBI) – the hazards encountered by deployed troops on a daily basis

Correspondence should be addressed to Major S A Adams, Orthopaedic Department, Royal Infirmary of Edinburgh, 51 Little France Crescent, Edinburgh EH16 4SA.