Traumatic wounds to the hand and wrist treated at Brazzaville University Hospital

Abstract

Introduction: Traumatic wounds to the hand and wrist are the result of physical aggression in developing countries. The objective of our study was to evaluate the functional outcomes of primary surgical repair of traumatic hand injuries. Materials and Methods: Our study was retrospective cross-sectional, conducted from January 1, 2018 to August 31, 2023. It included 49 adult patients treated surgically for traumatic wounds of the hand and wrist by the Traumatology-Orthopaedics Department of the Brazzaville University Hospital. It excluded unusable files. The lesions were classified according to the International Federation of Societies of Hand Surgery. Round tendons were repaired either by modified Kessler points and flat tendons by U-shaped points. Bone lesions were stabilized by osteosynthesis. The functional assessment of the treatment was made by the criteria of Whites and Boyes. Results: 42 male and 7 female patients were collected. The mean age was 25.21 years (range 18 to 56 years). Eight patients (16.32%) were regular smokers. The traumatic circumstances were assault in 41 cases (83.67%), work-related injury in 6 cases (12.25%) and domestic accident in 2 cases (4.08%). The right limb was injured in 37 cases (75.51%). The mean time from injury to hospital admission was 3.67 hours (range: 1 to 17 hours) and the mean time from admission to treatment was 4.23 days (range: 0 to 7 days). The lesions were mainly located in zone V of the flexors (26.53%) and zone VII of the extensors (24.49%). The mean time to follow-up was 12.4 months (range: 7 to 19 months). Functional recovery was mostly good. Complications were residual pain in 4 cases. Conclusion: Traumatic wounds are frequent and severe. Our series found mostly good functional results.