[Hand injuries in the Krakow Region]

The material of 1199 patients with hand injuries treated in the II Department of Surgery in Krakow within the years 1987-2000 was epidemiologically elaborated. The adult population in this region counts 850,228 thousand inhabitants, therefore the number of hand injuries demanding special procedures amounts 5.74 for 10 thousand inhabitants yearly. Hand injuries most frequently affected young manual workers before 40 years of age (p < 0.001). Almost one half of accidents occurred at home (45.29%), and only 19.68% were work-related (p < 0.001). Machinery accidents (34.87%) and cutting with glass (18.43%) were two the most common causes of these injuries (p < 0.001). After the operation, prevalent number of patients (72.56%) were treated as an outpatient. The mean period of whole treatment amounts 76.95 +/- 67.81 days. It has been depended on the severity of injury and complications as well (p < 0.001). 90.59% of patients returned to previous work, and 4.89% of patients had to change their work. Disability pension was given to 4.50% of all patients.