Journal of Aesthetic & Reconstructive Surgery

Pattern of Fingertip Injuries at a Tertiary Trauma Care Center in Ethiopia

Background: Fingertip injuries are injuries of the hand distal to the insertion of flexor digitorum profundus or extensor tendons, and are one of the most common injuries of the hand. There are plenty of reconstructive options for a given fingertip defect; however there is paucity of published documents about the types of injuries and management options provided to the patients in Ethiopia. This study aimed to determine the socio-demographic pattern, clinical presentation and management option offered to fingertip injury patients at ALERT trauma center, Ethiopia.

Methods: A single centered retrospective descriptive study was conducted on all medical records of fingertip injury patients who came to ALERT trauma center from January 2019 to February 2020. Data were collected from May 1^st 2020 to July 31^st 2020 using structured checklist from chart of the patients for whom adequate data were recorded then analyzed using SPSS version 25. Ethical approval was obtained from Addis Ababa university college of health science.

Result: A total of 190 patients’ charts were reviewed in this study and there were a total of 227 fingertip injuries. Most of the patients were males (78.4%) with male to female ratio of 3.6:1 mechanism of injury was identified in 188 patients, and machine injury was responsible for majority of the cases (43.1%). From the total of 190 patients, 64.7% had nailbed and associated apparatus injury. Regarding the option of management offered, primary wound closure was found the commonest type (65.6%), followed by V-Y advancement flap (9.3%).

Conclusion: Fingertip injuries are common in young male factory workers or daily laborers and able to be managed with primary wound closure; however, it needs further study to compare outcomes of each reconstructive option.

Author(s): Girma Moges Gebrehiwot1* and Ataklitie Baraki Berhea2

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