Epidemiology of Orthopaedic Trauma Cases at a Tertiary Level Hospital in Nepal: An Observational Study

TL;DR

This study examines orthopaedic trauma cases in Nepal, finding that males aged 30-44 are most affected, with falls and road accidents being common causes.

Contribution

Provides new epidemiological data on orthopaedic trauma in a tertiary hospital in Nepal.

Findings

70.55% of trauma patients were male, with 34.29% aged 30-44 years.

Falls (45.12%) and road traffic accidents (30.56%) were the leading causes of injury.

Fractures were most common (63.07%), with lower extremity fractures being the most frequent type.

Abstract

Trauma is a leading cause of morbidity and mortality worldwide. While there has been significant progress in understanding trauma in high-income countries, data from Nepal is limited. This study's main objective was to explore the demographic profile, injury patterns, and treatment of orthopaedic trauma patients presenting to a tertiary-level hospital in Nepal.

This was a retrospective study conducted at a tertiary-level hospital of Nepal. All complete records of trauma cases presenting to the hospital from January 2017 to December 2022 were included in the study. Data were collected from electronic and manual records, anonymized, and analyzed with Microsoft Excel 2021.

A total of 27,893 complete records were included in the study. Of these, 19,679 (70.55%) patients were male. Patients aged 30-44 years accounted for 9,566 (34.29%) cases. The mechanisms of injury included falls in 12,585 (45.12%) cases and road traffic accidents in 8,524 (30.56%) cases. Fractures were identified in 17,593 (63.07%) patients, with 9,800 cases classified as lower extremity fractures. Additionally, 18,595 (66.67%) patients were referred from outside the district.

Orthopaedic trauma was seen more commonly in males and the most common causes of injury are falls and RTA. Fractures were the most common pattern of orthopaedic injuries and lower extremity fractures were the most common.