ABSTRACT
Introduction: Trauma is one of the major causes of death among Thai people. In that respect, hand injuries have become an interesting issue during the past three years. Method: Patients with hand injuries (code S60-S69 in ICD 10) were selected from the Siriraj Truama Registry during 1993-1995 and than analyzed with regard to age, occupation, causes of accident and other data. Result: During the part three years, (1993-1995) 13,027 hand-injury patients were serviced by the unit. These included: 9,716 males and 3,311 females, with a ratio of male of 2.9:1. The greatest number of injuries was seen in patients aged 11 to 40 years, two of whom died from causes other than hand injury. Workers, laborers and students were the most common occupations. The sites of the accidents were homes, followed by public places and roads. Most patients arrived at the hospital within 30 minutes of the accident. Lacerated wounds were found to account for 54.4 percent (7,167 patients) of the total cases. Sharp objects and machinery were found to be the main causes of injury (3,397 patients), followed by traffic accidents (2,994 patients). In the traffic accident groups, injuries related to motorcycle accidents were found in 2,472 patients (82.6 percent). Injuries in this group were unintentional. Conclusion: From the incidence of hand injuries, it can be seen that this is the most common type of injury to occur in various types of accidents. Therefore the results of this study can be modified to formulate a prevention program, e.g., training for machine workers before they begin employment. In addition, first aid for hand injuries should be taught, including how to stop bleeding.