[Quality of life after severe hand trauma: A review of 36 cases]

Abstract

Objective: Improve the quality of life of patients with severe hand trauma.

Materials and method: A retrospective study was carried out from August, 1^st, 2017, to May 31^st, 2020, at the emergency department of a private clinic in Abidjan. Were included in this study all patients with severe hand trauma who had undergone emergency surgery with a quality-of-life assessment time of over six months after surgery. The data were reported on a structured and standardized survey form.

Results: We analyzed 36 patients, with average age of 38.6 years (min. 8, max. 71 years). The population study was predominantly male with a sex ratio of 17. 92% of patients were right-handed, and in 53% of cases, the trauma involved the dominant hand. 64.2% of the patients were manual workers. In 83.3% of the cases, the patients had no difficulty in writing. Patients had no difficulty in washing or drying their hair 88.9% of the time. Eighty-nine percent of the patients no longer felt pain. The patients didn't feel any weakness in the hand in 72.2% of the cases and in 63.9% of the cases there was no stiffness in the hand. Only 5.6% of the injured felt their health was poor and 83.3% of patients strongly disagree with feeling less valuable, less confident, or even less capable because of the trauma. 72% of patients were incapacitated for work between 5 and 15 weeks. 80.6% of trauma victims had no loss of income, and 88.9% of patients kept their previous jobs. 83.3% of patients did not experience any social discomfort.

Conclusion: The patients had a good quality of life despite the severity of hand injuries they had due to early and adequate management combined with good physiotherapy.

Keywords: Chirurgie de la main; Disability evaluation; Hand injury severity scoring system; Hand surgery; Quality of life; Qualité de la vie; Severe hand injuries; Système d’évaluation de la gravité des traumatismes de la main; Traumatisme grave de la main; Évaluation du handicap.