Evaluation of Pediatric Fingertip Injuries Using Etiology, Demographics and Therapy

Özet

Objectives: In this study, 354 pediatric cases were evaluated and treated at the emergency service department due to fingertipinjuries in a four years period. The data were studied using etiology, demographics, treatment and complications. This study aimsto draw attention to fingertip injuries that are very common in childhood and to help developing preventive strategies.Methods: Of the 354 patients, 191 were boys and 163 were girls. Their ages ranged from six months to 17 years. These patientswere studied concerning sex, injured hand and fingers, injury mechanism, injury zone, selected treatment modalities and complications.All interventions were performed under local anesthesia at the emergency service department. Patients were dischargedon the same day.Results: In our study group, the male patients (54%) were more affected than the girls (46%). It was observed that the right hand(65.3%) was much more vulnerable to the injury than the left hand (34.7%). It was determined that the most injured fingers weremiddle fingers in the 136 (38.4%) of the patients, followed by the ring finger (33.9%). Injury was most frequent at five years old patientgroup. The most frequent type of injury was crush type injuries with a rate of 83.3%, and among crush type injuries, the mostcommon mechanism was trapping of fingers in the doors or windows. While many of these injuries required surgical intervention,appropriate patients were treated with wound care and secondary wound healing.Conclusion: In childhood, hand injuries are quite frequent and fingertip injuries constitute the majority of these entities. Thesechildhood injuries lead to significant functional, aesthetic and psychological sequelae in these patients. The knowledge aboutthe etiology, distribution and mechanisms of these injuries will enable the development of preventive measures in this regard.