Open Access Emergency Medicine (Dec 2021)
Epidemiology of Knife Injuries at Ain Shams University Hospital Emergency Department from 2018 to 2019: A Cross-Sectional Study
Abstract
Manar M Ellaban,1 Eman Afifi,2 Moustafa El Houssinie,1 Jon Mark Hirshon,3,4 Mohamed El-Shinawi,3,5,6 Maged El-Setouhy1,3,7 1Department of Community, Environmental and Occupational Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, Ain Shams University, Cairo, Egypt; 2Department of Geriatrics and Gerontology, Faculty of Medicine, Ain Shams University, Cairo, Egypt; 3Department of Emergency Medicine, University of Maryland School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD, USA; 4Department of Epidemiology and Public Health, University of Maryland School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD, USA; 5General Surgery Department, Ain Shams University, Cairo, Egypt; 6Galala University, Cairo, Egypt; 7Department of Family and Community Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, Jazan University, Jazan, Saudi ArabiaCorrespondence: Manar M EllabanCommunity, Environmental and Occupational Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, Ain Shams University, Abbasia, Cairo, EgyptTel +201550690740Fax +2024346041Email [email protected]: For knife-related injuries (KRI), a comprehensive understanding of the incidence, mechanism, and pattern of injury is required for the development of prevention strategies. Unfortunately, reliable data on knife-related injuries are difficult to obtain. In Egypt, there is no national routine surveillance system for all knife injuries. The aim was to examine the epidemiologic characteristics of knife-related injuries at the Ain Shams University Hospital (ASUH) emergency department (ED).Patients and Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted on 140 patients who presented with knife injuries at the ASUH ED. Data collection was done during a randomly selected period of seven days each month from October 2018 to September 2019. The sociodemographic characteristics, injury-related variables, and outcomes of the injury were recorded on a structured worksheet.Results: Knife-related injuries represented 22.9% of all injury cases that presented to the ED. Majority of the knife-related injuries (87.86%) were accidental, 7.9% were assault, and 4.3% were self-inflicted. Home was the most reported place of injury. Most of the victims were discharged from the ED (87.1%), and 84.3% recovered completely. The mean hospital stay was 3.6 ± 1.3 days.Conclusion: Majority of the knife-related injuries were accidental, and the most common pattern was isolated chest injury with contusions. Cases that were not severe and had favorable prognosis (ie, complete recovery) comprised the largest proportion. Recommendations include development of a surveillance system may result in the effective control and prevention of this growing problem of knife-related injuries.Keywords: epidemiology, knife injuries, accidental, emergency department, ASUH
