Distribution of Needlestick Injuries in Hand Parts: A Retrospective Cohort Study‌

BACKGROUND A large number of healthcare workers worldwide experience needlestick injuries (NSIs), placing them at risk of infection. This study aimed to analyze the incidence of NSIs involving the hand, particularly focusing on the high incidence of NSIs in operating room staff, to provide a reference for the prevention of NSIs. MATERIAL AND METHODS We investigated the incidence of NSIs and the hand regions most frequently affected among operating room staff at a hospital in China from 2015 to 2023 using self-reported NSI data. Differences in NCI incidence across hand regions were analyzed using the chi-square test. RESULTS Among the 139 NSI cases, 98 (70.5%) were attributed to the unsafe operation of medical devices, 128 (92.09%) occurred during procedures not involving surgical instruments, 87 (62.6%) were caused by swaged needles, and 46 (33.1%) occurred among staff involved in hepatobiliary and pancreatic surgeries. Of the 139 cases, 110 (79.1%) resulted in bleeding after NSIs. Regarding source infection status, 87 cases involved confirmed infections, 24 involved suspected infections, 9 had unknown infection status, and 14 had no infectious diseases. Regarding the effect of protective equipment, no statistically significant difference was found in the bleeding outcomes between individuals wearing single-layer and dual-layer gloves (P>0.05), nor in the distribution of injury sites across different hand regions (P>0.05). CONCLUSIONS Using local protective measures, such as medical gloves with stab-resistant or thickened materials in the index fingers and dorsal hand regions, may be an effective preventative measure against NSIs.