The Incidence of Acute Traumatic Tendon Injuries in the Hand and Wrist: A 10-Year Population-based Study

Abstract

BackgroundAcute traumatic tendon injuries of the hand and wrist are commonly encountered in the emergency department. Despite the frequency, few studies have examined the true incidence of acute traumatic tendon injuries in the hand and wrist or compared the incidences of both extensor and flexor tendon injuries.MethodsWe performed a retrospective population-based cohort study of all acute traumatic tendon injuries of the hand and wrist in a mixed urban and rural Midwest county in the United States between 2001-2010. A regional epidemiologic database and medical codes were used to identify index cases. Epidemiologic information including occupation, year of injury, mechanism of injury and the injured tendon and zone were recorded.ResultsDuring the 10-year study period there was an incidence rate of 33.2 injuries per 100,000 person-years. There was a decreasing rate of injury during the study period. Highest incidence of injury occurred at 20-29 years of age. There was significant association between injury rate and age, and males had a higher incidence than females. The majority of cases involved a single tendon, with extensor tendon injuries occurring more frequently than flexor tendons. Typically, extensor tendon injuries involved zone three of the index finger, while flexor tendons involved zone two of the index finger. Work-related injuries accounted for 24.9% of acute traumatic tendon injuries. The occupations of work-related injuries were assigned to major groups defined by the 2010 Standard Occupational Classification structure. After assigning these patients' occupations to respective major groups, the most common groups work-related injuries occurred in construction and extraction occupations (44.2%), food preparation and serving related occupations (14.4%), and transportation and material moving occupations (12.5%).ConclusionsEpidemiology data enhances our knowledge of injury patterns and may play a role in the prevention and treatment of future injuries, with an end result of reducing lost work time and economic burden.

Injury patterns of finger extensor tendons in population of Ivanovo region

“…Результаты нашего исследования подтвер-дили высокий риск травм сухожилий разгиба-телей пальцев кисти при работе с технически сложными устройствами [1], преобладание па-циентов мужского пола [7,9,11] и трудоспо-собного возраста [9].…”

“…В нашем исследовании выявлено преобла-дание тяжелых травм, сочетающихся с перело-мами костей (74,8%) по сравнению с данными зарубежных авторов (46,7%) [9]. Доля бытовых травм составила 80,98%, что значительно выше аналогичных показателей, представленных за-рубежными авторами -55% [11].…”

“…По данным раз-ных авторов, частота госпитализаций с травма-ми кисти составляет от 20 до 28,4% [4,5,7,9,11]. Травмы сухожилий разгибателей пальцев кисти в структуре травм опорно-двигательной систе-мы составляют от 0,5 до 6,3% [5,6].…”

Evaluating a Flexor Tendon Laceration with the Tenodesis Effect

“…2 Young adult males have a disproportionate number of these injuries. 3 The physical examination for evaluation of flexor tendon injury is essential for all emergency department and primary caregivers because prompt recognition will allow for early surgical intervention and the best prognosis (Video; available at www.jpeds.com). The timing of the injury, the mechanism, and the offending object should be noted because they can guide physical examination and also help with prophylactic antibiotic choice.…”

An Experimental Model on the Biomechanical Behaviour of the Flexor Tendons in New Zealand Rabbits

“…1) According to the study by de Jong et al the incidence of traumatic injuries of tendons reached 33.2 patients per 100,000 people with an average age at injury of 35.9 years. 2,3) More specifically, regarding flexor tendons in the hand, the most frequently involved anatomical location was the flexor zone II (19.1%).…”