Retrospective Analysis of Patients Whose Plastic Surgery Consultations Requested were in a University Hospital Emergency Room

• Published in: Eurasian journal of emergency medicine 2014-03, Vol.13 (1), p.18
• Main Authors: Topkara, Adem, Serinken, Mustafa, Uyanik, Emrah, Dagli, Bekir, Özcan, Ramazan Hakan
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Emergency medical care; Hospitals; Patients; Plastic surgery; Studies
• ISSN: 2149-5807; 2149-6048
• DOI: 10.5152/jaem.2014.016

Patients for whom emergency department physicians in a University Training and Research Hospital asked for plastic surgery consultation were evaluated retrospectively. Data files were reviewed for patients who were admitted for trauma and for whom a plastic surgery consultation was requested over a four year period (January 2007-January 2011). It was determined in the study group that the majority of cases were male patients (70.8%, n=807). Injuries from piercing-cutting objects were found to be the most common; this was followed by work and traffic accidents, respectively. Consultation was often requested between 20:00 and 24:00 (n=495, 43.4%). When the injury regions were examined, the region that was most commonly injured was identified to be the upper extremity (n=849, 74.5%). This was followed by the head and neck region (n=236, 20.7%), lower extremities (n=39, 3.4%) and the body (n=16, 1.4%). It was found that consultations were often carried out for tendon injuries caused by piercing-cutting objects in the upper extremity, and cases were mainly from the paediatric age group in consultations requested due to facial injuries. The team in the emergency department should be composed of people with specialised training in the field of emergency medicine or receiving this training. Aleviating the concerns of a family may reduce improper consultation requests.