Table 3.
Characteristics for the 287 injuries with a hand injury treated at a department for hand surgery
| Injury characteristics | Women n = 146 | Men n = 141 | Total n = 287 | P-value |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Injured side | ||||
| Right | 55 (38%) | 56 (40%) | 111 (39%) | b0.78 |
| Left | 87 (60%) | 79 (56%) | 166 (58%) | b0.69 |
| Bilateral | 4 (3%) | 5 (4%) | 9 (3%) | – |
| Missing | 0 | 1 (1%) | 1 (0%) | – |
| Location of injury | ||||
| Carpal hand/forearm | 27 (18%) | 18 (13%) | 45 (16%) | b0.22 |
| 1st ray | 18 (12%) | 28 (20%) | 46 (16%) | b0.11 |
| 2nd ray | 9 (6%) | 23 (16%) | 32 (11%) | b 0.01 |
| 3rd ray | 3 (2%) | 6 (4%) | 9 (3%) | – |
| 4th ray | 14 (10%) | 16 (11%) | 30 (10%) | b0.65 |
| 5th ray | 48 (33%) | 25 (18%) | 73 (25%) | b 0.01 |
| Multiple parts | 27 (18%) | 25 (18%) | 52 (18%) | b0.88 |
| Type of injury | ||||
| Fracture | 97 (66%) | 50 (35%) | 147 (51%) | b < 0.01 |
| Wound | 34 (23%) | 69 (49%) | 103 (36%) | b < 0.01 |
| Dislocation/ligament injury | 15 (11%) | 22 (16%) | 37 (13%) | b0.21 |
| Injured structures | ||||
| Integument | ||||
| Skin | 33 (23%) | 54 (38%) | 87 (30%) | b 0.02 |
| Nail Bed | 8 (5%) | 23 (16%) | 31 (11%) | b < 0.01 |
| Skeletal | ||||
| Forearm fracture* | 4 (3%) | 1 (1%) | 5 (2%) | – |
| Carpal fracture | 17 (12%) | 7 (5%) | 24 (8%) | b 0.05 |
| Metacarpal fracture | 40 (27%) | 20 (14%) | 60 (21%) | b 0.01 |
| Phalanx fracture | 34 (23%) | 45 (32%) | 79 (28%) | b0.16 |
| Dislocation/ligament | 13 (9%) | 21 (15%) | 34 (12%) | b0.14 |
| Multiple fractures and/or dislocations | 13 (9%) | 8 (6%) | 21 (7%) | b0.31 |
| Tendon | b < 0.01 | |||
| Wrist flexor/extensor tendon | 0 | 5 (4%) | 5 (2%) | – |
| Digital extensor tendon | 4 (3%) | 11 (8%) | 15 (5%) | – |
| Digital flexor tendon | 5 (3%) | 11 (8%) | 16 (6%) | – |
| Multiple tendon types | 2 (1%) | 4 (3%) | 6 (2%) | – |
| Nerve | b0.20 | |||
| Main nerve | 2 (1%) | 3 (2%) | 5 (2%) | – |
| Digital nerve/radial nerve branch | 9 (6%) | 14 (10%) | 23 (8%) | – |
| MHISS | 12.5 [4–24.5] | 20 [9.5–35.5] | 16 [6–30] | a < 0.01 |
| MHISS groups | ||||
| Minor (1–20) | 104 (71%) | 84 (59%) | 188 (65%) | b0.22 |
| Moderate (21–50) | 33 (23%) | 39 (28%) | 72 (25%) | b0.39 |
| Severe (51–100) | 6 (4%) | 10 (7%) | 16 (6%) | b0.29 |
| Major (> 100) | 3 (2%) | 8 (6%) | 11 (4%) | c0.12 |
Values are presented as number of patients (% of patient group) or median [25th – 75th percentiles]. P-values represent differences between men and women in number of patients affected or median values by the use of aMann-Whitney U test for continuous variables and bPearson’s Chi-square test or cFisher’s exact test (in small sample groups) for categorical variables. Every injured structure is counted for each patient, i.e. several structures are scored for some patients and consequently sum of column percentage in the category Injured structure is not 100%. *The number of forearm fractures is not representative for the entire population