Clinical and demographic study on open fractures caused by motorcycle traffic accidents

Abstract

OBJECTIVE: To assess socio-demographic characteristics of individuals that suffered open fractures caused by motorcycle traffic accident and evaluate infection rate in search of associated risk factors. METHODS: A retrospective study comprising 81 patients with open fractures caused by motorcycle accidents was carried out. Clinic and socio-demographic features were collected from patients' records. Comparison between infected and non-infected patients was performed to find out which variables were possibly associated to this complication. RESULTS: Patients were mostly young adults (mean 32.9 years old), of the masculine gender (83.9%), single (60.5%), from the country side (40.7%), mostly presenting tibial open fractures (48.2%). Fractures type IIIA and type IIIB were the most prevalent lesions (68,8%), and soft tissue damage graded as I and II were the most frequent (64.62%). Infection was present in 23.7% of the patients and it was associated to age higher than 40 years old (p=0.011), to time delay from trauma to first surgical procedure longer than 24 hours (p=0,012), and also to soft tissue damage extent (p=0.001). CONCLUSIONS: Patients with open fractures caused by motorcycle traffic accident were mostly young single men, coming from the state capital and presented severe tibial open fractures, which 23.7% of the cases progressed to infection. Level of Evidence III, Retrospective Comparative Study.

Infection rate in adult patients with open fractures treated at the emergency hospital and at the ULBRA university hospital in Canoas, Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil

“…Type III fractures of the Gustilo and Anderson classification were prevalent (46.70%), data that is common in previous studies of open fractures. 15 , 16 For the other fracture types, the values found were also similar to those reported in the literature, of 15.80% for type I, and 29.50% for type II. 15 …”

Epidemiological study of open fractures of the ankle and foot

“…In the current study, the percentage of early infections (first 7 days) was 7.4%, results that differ from those of other studies from the national literature, which found percentages of 13.24%, 18.80%, and 23.7% for open fractures in general (18)(19)(20) , and most infections were observed in open fractures classified as Gustilo and Anderson type III (18)(19)(20)(21)(22) . It is inferred that our results were lower than those observed in the literature due to the higher percentage of less severe fractures in the current study (42% of Gustilo and Anderson type II open fractures); additionally, most study were prospective, with follow-up duration longer than 6 weeks (18)(19)(20)(21)(22) . In the study with the highest percentage of infections (23.7%), it was found that this high percentage was associated with severity of soft tissue injuries and delayed orthopedic treatment (22) .…”

Estrutura Da Representação Social Das Fraturas De Membros Inferiores Em Indivíduos Hospitalizados

“…As informações obtidas dos 66 indivíduos internados com lesões traumáticas em membros inferiores, possibilitaram descrever as características sociodemográficas deste grupo e identificar os prováveis elementos centrais, intermediários e periféricos das representações sociais. Dos participantes da pesquisa 81,8% eram do gênero masculino, 81,9% tinham média de idade e desvio padrão 40,3 (18,5) (10)(11)(12) . Maior frequência de indivíduos com baixa escolaridade, renda mensal de até 1 salário mínimo, inseridos informalmente no mercado de trabalho, e o agente causador da fratura mais comum foi o uso da motocicleta, dados semelhantes ao estudo (13) , que observou uma alta prevalência de acidentes com motociclistas sugerindo um período de transição econômica próprio de países em desenvolvimento, com aumento de vítimas vulneráveis, oriundas da crescente classe média que adquire veículos motorizados particulares e com menor custo.…”

“…Observou-se, também, mudanças abruptas na saúde e no estilo de vida devido à lesões, agente causador de estresse emocional individual e familiar (15)(16)(17) . As fraturas expostas envolvendo a perna, tíbia e fíbula foram as mais frequentes, característica corroborada em estudo (18) , que encontrou maior frequência entre os pacientes com fraturas expostas por acidente de motocicleta em sua maioria homens, jovens, solteiros, com prevalência de lesões graves que acometeram a região da perna com infecção em 23.7% dos casos, fator associado à idade, tempo de exposição e à gravidade da lesão.…”

“…Quanto ao agente etiológico causador das fraturas, as motocicletas ocuparam espaço importante na ocorrência das fraturas, na maioria das vezes lesões expostas, levando estes indivíduos a hospitalização e consequente mudanças repentinas no cotidiano dos acometidos. O uso frequente da motocicleta como veículo para atividades de trabalho, vem reafirmar a relevância dos acidentes de trânsito entre jovens em idade produtiva e o comprometimento da produtividade de muitas vítimas por longos períodos, após o evento traumático (16,18) . A vulnerabilidade experimentada deve ser levada em conta a dimensão relativa do indivíduo e ao local social por ele ocupado.…”