Management of limb fractures in a teaching hospital: comparison between Wenchuan and Yushu earthquakes

Abstract

【Abstract】Objective: To comparatively analyze the medical records of patients with limb fractures as well as rescue strategy in Wenchuan and Yushu earthquakes so as to provide references for post-earthquake rescue. Methods: We retrospectively investigated 944 patients sustaining limb fractures, including 891 in Wenchuan earth-quake and 53 in Yushu earthquake, who were admitted to West China Hospital (WCH) of Sichuan University. Results: In Wenchuan earthquake, WCH met its three peaks of limb fracture patients influx, on post-earthquake day (PED) 2, 8 and 14 respectively. Between PED 3-14, 585 patients were transferred from WCH to other hospitals out-side the Sichuan Province. In Yushu earthquake, the maxi-mum influx of limb fracture patients happened on PED 3, and no one was shifted to other hospitals. Both in Wenchuan and Yushu earthquakes, most limb fractures were caused by blunt strike and crush/burying. In Wenchuan earthquake, there were 396 (396/942, 42.0%) open limb fractures, includ-ing 28 Gustilo I, 201 Gustilo II and 167 Gustilo III injuries. But in Yushu earthquake, the incidence of open limb frac-ture was much lower (6/61, 9.8%). The percent of patients with acute complications in Wenchuan earthquake (167/891, 18.7%) was much higher than that in Yushu earthquake (5/53, 3.8%). In Wenchuan earthquake rescue, 1 018 surgeries were done, composed of debridement in 376, internal fixation in 283, external fixation in 119, and vacuum sealing drainage in 117, etc. While among the 64 surgeries in Yushu earthquake rescue, the internal fixation for limb fracture was mostly adopted. All patients received proper treatment and sur-vived except one who died due to multiple organs failure in Wenchuan earthquake. Conclusion: Provision of suitable and sufficient medi-cal care in a catastrophe can only be achieved by construc-tion of sophisticated national disaster medical system, pre-diction of the injury types and number of injuries, and con-firmation of participating hospitals’ exact role. Based on the valuable rescue experiences after Wenchuan earthquake, the rescue was faster, more orderly and effective in Yushu earthquake. Nevertheless, there is still a long way to go in the development of a stronger emergent response to the disasters. Key words: Earthquakes; Extremities; Fractures, bone; Disaster medicine