The practice of plastic surgery in emergency trauma surgery: a retrospective glance at 10,732 patients

BACKGROUND
The number of patients applying to the emergency Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery outpatient clinic varies considerably depending on the sociocultural profiles of societies. Due to the abundance of anatomic regions comprising the targets of this field of specialization, plastic surgery is continuously gaining in importance in emergency traumatology.
METHODS
In this study, 10,732 patients admitted to the outpatient clinic of Emergency Plastic Surgery in Þiþli Etfal Training and Research Hospital were evaluated retrospectively regarding etiology, sex, age distribution, injury characteristics, and treatment.
RESULTS
While 64% of all patients had forearm and hand injuries, 28% had maxillofacial injuries, and 8% had tissue defects. There was a male: female ratio of 4: 1, and the mean age of all patients was 22.9 years. The mean age of patients (males 81%) admitted with upper extremity injuries was 22.3 years. Most of the upper extremity injuries were due to glassware cuts (33%). The mean age of patients admitted with maxillofacial trauma was 23.2 years. Among the patients with head-and-neck injuries, the most frequent cause of trauma was traffic accidents (38%).
CONCLUSION
Regarding the frequency and characteristics of the patients treated, we suggest that plastic surgery shows a progressively increasing significance and widening field of practice in emergency traumatology and, as no similar study currently exists, ours will contribute significantly to the literature.

Plastik cerrahinin acil travma cerrahisindeki yeri: 10,732 hastaya retrospektif bir bakýþ

AMAÇ
Acil plastik cerrahi polikliniðine baþvuran hasta sayýsý toplumlarýn sosyokültürel özelliklerine baðlý olarak ciddi farklýlýklar göstermektedir. Çalýþma bölgesinin yaygýnlýðý nedeni ile de plastik cerrahinin acil travmatolojideki önemi giderek artmaktadýr.
GEREÇ VE YÖNTEM
Bu çalýþmada, 2000-2004 yýllarý arasýnda Þiþli Etfal Eðitim ve Araþtýrma Hastanesi Acil Plastik Cerrahi polikliniðine baþvuran 10,732 hastanýn etyoloji, cinsiyet, yaþ daðýlýmý, yaralanma özellikleri ve tedavileri retrospektif olarak deðerlendirildi.
BULGULAR
Baþvuran hastalarýn %64’ünde ön kol ve el yaralanmalarý, %28’inde maksillofasyal yaralanma ve %8’inde doku defektleri vardý. Hastalarda 4/1 oranýnda erkek baskýnlýðý vardý, yaþ ortalamasý 22,9 idi. Üst ekstremite yaralanmasý ile baþvuran hastalarýn %81’i erkek ve yaþ ortalamalarý 22,3 olarak bulundu. Üst ekstremite yaralanmasý olan hastalarda en sýk etyolojik neden, %33 ile cam kesisi idi. Maksillofasyal travma nedeniyle baþvuran hastalarýn yaþ ortalamasý 23,2 olarak saptandý. Baþ-boyun yaralanmasý olan hastalarýn %38’inde travma sebebi trafik kazasý idi.
SONUÇ
Tedavi edilen hasta sýklýðý ve özelliði göz önüne alýndýðýnda plastik cerrahinin acil travmatolojideki yeri ve öneminin her geçen gün artmakta olduðunu ve benzer bir çalýþma olmadýðý için bu çalýþmanýn literatüre katkýsý olacaðýný düþünmekteyiz.