How hand and wrist trauma has changed during covid-19 emergency in Italy: Incidence and distribution of acute injuries. What to learn?

Background: the purpose is to gather and analyze the statistical datas of wrist and hand injuries admitted to the Hand and Reconstructive Microsurgery and Replantation Hub center of Careggi Hospital, Florence during the first two months of COVID-19 epidemic in Italy. The Authors investigated how the drastic changes in daily activities modified the epidemiology of hand trauma lesions.

Methods: The Authors analyzed the characteristics of hand and wrist traumatic disorders during the months of February and March comparing 2019 to 2020. Collected data included age distribution, traumatic etiology, diagnosis and type of surgical procedures.

Results: The total number of orthopedic and trauma patients significantly decrease in 2020 compared to 2019 (3360 vs 1470). The number of hand and wrist injuries didn't show a significant difference between 2019 and 2020 instead (192 vs 131). The overall number of patients hospitalized and surgically treated at our Operative Unit (OU) was 168 in 2019 and 120 in 2020. Male patients resulted prevalent (60,7 M vs 39,3F/2019; 63,2 M vs 36,8F/2020). In terms of patient age, in 2020 we registered a significant reduction of cases in the 20-35-year-old age group and a significant increase in the 51-65 and 66-80-year-old age groups. Traffic-related, sport-related and fortuitous injuries significantly decreased in 2020, while the number of domestic accidents significantly increased. Analyzing the Hospital Discharge Records (HDR), we found a significant increase in the number of proximal and middle phalanx fractures; no significant differences were found for other kinds of discharge diagnosis. As for the choice of surgical treatment options, no differences were found between 2019 and 2020.

Conclusion: Even during drastic movement restrictions and the prolonged suspension of work and leisure activities secondary to COVID-19 epidemic in 2020, hand and wrist traumas rate remained almost the same compared to the same period of the previous year. Nevertheless, a significant change in the etiology and patient age was registered. In fact, sport and traffic-related traumas decreased respect to domestic traumas, while the previous prevalent involvement of young adults was surpassed by accidental hand traumas in the elderly and active adults.