Table 3.
Baseline characteristics and operative variables for hand and wrist trauma patients operated on ‘pre-COVID-19 pandemic’ and ‘during COVID-19 pandemic’.
| Characteristic | Pre-COVID-19 (n = 310) | During COVID-19 (n = 246) | P value |
|---|---|---|---|
| SSI (%) | 7 (2.3) | 13 (5.3) | 0.0941† |
| Median age in years (IQR) | 37 (22.0, 59.0) | 42 (26.0, 58.0) | 0.5158§ |
| Sex (%): | |||
| Male | 226 (72.9) | 180 (73.2) | 1.0000† |
| Female | 84 (27.1) | 66 (26.8) | |
| Current smoker (%) | 66 (21.3) | 24 (9.8) | 0.0004† |
| Diabetes mellitus (%) | 16 (16.0) | 10 (4.1) | 0.6848† |
| Immunocompromised (%) | 5 (5.0) | 4 (1.6) | 1.0000‡ |
| ASA Grade (%) | |||
| I | 216 (69.7) | 186 (75.6) | 0.2725† |
| II | 74 (23.9) | 49 (19.7) | |
| III | 20 (6.5) | 11 (4.5) | |
| Type of injury (%): | |||
| Closed | 33 (10.6) | 14 (5.7) | 0.1140† |
| Sharp | 131 (42.3) | 107 (43.5) | |
| Blunt | 32 (10.3) | 20 (8.1) | |
| Rip, tear and crush | 114 (36.8) | 105 (42.7) | |
| Wound contamination (%): | |||
| Animal bite | 38 (12.2) | 31 (12.6) | 0.1976† |
| Other | 47 (15.2) | 53 (21.5) | 0.0590† |
| Prosthesis or implant used (%) | 30 (91.0) | 18 (7.3) | 0.4053† |
| Location of procedure (%): | |||
| Main theatres | 177 (57.1) | 42 (17.1) | < 0.0001† |
| Minor operating theatre | 133 (42.9) | 204 (82.9) | |
| Perioperative antibiotics used (%) | 282 (91.0) | 201 (81.7) | 0.0012† |
IQR: Interquartile range
§
p-value derived using Mann-Whitney U test for non-parametric data.
†
p-value derived using Chi-square test for categorical variables.
‡
p-value derived using Fisher's exact test when cell sizes were below five.
Significant p-values are highlighted.