Defining The Musculoskeletal Injuries of Survivors After Earthquakes; A Cross-sectional Analytic Study from Turkey

The aim was to document sociodemographic and clinical data of patients with musculoskeletal injuries who applied to the Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation clinic after the earthquake, to share experiences, and thus contribute to preparation for subsequent disasters.

The study was planned as retrospective, cross-sectional, and analytic. A total of N = 230 earthquake victims, 105 (45.7%) males and 125 (54.3%) females, aged between 1 and 79, were included in our study.

Regarding injury location, the lower extremity was primarily affected with N = 125 (54.3%). The number of amputated patients was N = 29 (12.6%), and the most common location was transfemoral amputation with N = 14 (6.1%) patients. The number of fractures was N = 130 (56.5%), and the most common fracture site was the lower extremity in N = 66 (28.7%) patients. N = 162 (70.4%) of the patients had soft tissue injuries. There was peripheral nerve damage in N = 76 (33%) of the earthquake victims; the most frequently damaged nerve was the peroneal nerve in N = 36 (15.7%) patients. A vertebral fracture was present in N = 9 (3.9%) patients, and the most frequently fractured vertebra was the lumbar vertebra in 11 (4.8%) patients.

Defining the profiles of patients with musculoskeletal injuries in the early period, determining their needs, and including them in the rehabilitation program will ensure successful functional gain.