ABSTRACT

Aim:

The aim of this study is to evaluate the patients with hand and wrist injuries and to analyze the factors that affect treatment cost in this group of patients retrospectively.

Materials and Methods:

This retrospective study included all patients who applied to Ankara University School of Medicine Department of Emergency Medicine between January 1, 2016 - December 31, 2016 with isolated hand and / or wrist trauma. The exclusion criteria were determined as application after the traffic accident, other accompanying system or limb injuries, and inadequate medical records.Patients meeting the exclusion criteria were not included in the study because they were thought to affect the costs. The amounts of the patients billed to the Social Security Institution were investigated.

Results:

712 patients were included in the study. The median cost per patient was 45.50 (16-5131) ₺ in all cases. The total cost of the patients was calculated as 178678,17 ₺. 61.8% of the cases were male and 38.2% were female. The cases were mostly in the 20-29 age group (n = 191, 26.8%). 60-69 age group was the highest cost age group with median cost 108.20 (19-3672) ₺. A correlation of 0.136 was found between age and cost in the same direction and this correlation was statistically significant (p <0.001). Male gender, work-related accidents, penetrant injuries, scaphoid fractures, zone 5 injuries, surgical treatment, hand/wrist injuries et 00: 00-08: 00 was found to be factors that increase cost (p<0,001).

Conclusions:

We have identified the financial burden of hand / wrist injuries in terms of health spending. We think that measures to prevent the occurrence of such injuries will reduce health spendings which is impor-tant in terms of the country economy.