Characteristics of Injured Patients Cared in the General Surgery Service of Hospital Universitario Dr. Miguel Enríquez

Abstract

Introduction: Trauma takes millions of human lives and causes incredible economic costs; therefore, it is considered the unsolved pandemic for the modern era and the leading cause of death in the United States of America in people under 45 years of age and where more children die from injuries from all other causes in combination.

Objective: To characterize the injured patients admitted to the general surgery service of Hospital Universitario Dr. Miguel Enriquez.

Methods: A nonexperimental, cross-sectional, descriptive, prospective study was carried out on injured patients admitted to the general surgery service of Hospital Universitario Dr. Miguel Enriquez from January to December 2023. The study population was n = 184 and the studied variables included sociodemographic data, types of traumas and its mechanism of action, clinical status on arrival at the emergency department, among others.

Results: The mean age of the injured was 38 years and the predominant sex was male. Regarding skin color, the most frequent was white, accounting for 82 patients (44 %). Most patients were grouped in moderate trauma according to the severity assessment scale, representing a range between 9-16 points.

Conclusions: Most of the investigated injured patients were diagnosed with blunt chest trauma, in which traffic accidents and sharps injuries predominated as mechanisms of action.