Work-related hand injuries treated at a tertiary care hospital

The hands are known to be the most commonly injured body parts in traumatic occupational injuries. They can be disabling, leading to major adverse social and economic consequences for the worker and for his or her family.

The aim of the study was to describe work-related hand injuries and their potential risk factors and also investigate lines of management in relation to the type of injury.

Patients who presented to the emergency room of a tertiary hospital over a 6-month period with occupational hand injuries were interviewed using a predesigned questionnaire. It included questions pertaining to the sociodemographic, occupational, and medical aspects related to the injury.

A total of 163 patients were interviewed. More than 50% had injuries from cuts. Almost 60% of work-related hand injuries occurred in the absence of machines. The most common causes of hand injuries mentioned by workers were lack of concentration (68.7%), wearing no or ill-fitting gloves (63.2%), and a defect in the work place (51.5%). On examination, fingers were the most affected site (66.7%). About half of the cases were managed in the emergency room, 28.8% were managed with minor procedures, and 21.9% were managed with major procedures.

Work-related hand injuries have multifactorial causes; lack of concentration was the most common in this study. Injuries from cuts were the most common and fingers were the most affected part. Modifications of the possible risk factors may reduce the incidence of acute hand injury at work.