Table 2 Clinical injury characteristics of study patients, 11 May 2018 to 31 October 2020, Gaza, Palestine
Characteristics | All Patients (N = 244) | Orthopedic (N = 64) | Orthopedic and Plastic (N = 135) | Ortho-Plastic (N = 45) | p-value |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Clinical and injury - at presentation | |||||
Site of injury – n (%) |  |  |  |  |  |
 Proximal | 71 (29.2%) | 20 (31.7%) | 37 (27.4%) | 14 (31.1%) | 0.67†|
 Mid | 102 (42.0%) | 26 (41.3%) | 61 (45.2%) | 15 (33.3%) |  |
 Distal | 70 (28.8%) | 17 (27.0%) | 37 (27.4%) | 16 (35.6%) |  |
Fibula involved – n (%) |  |  |  |  |  |
 Yes | 133 (54.7%) | 32 (50.8%) | 71 (52.6%) | 30 (66.7%) | 0.20†|
 No | 110 (45.3%) | 31 (49.2%) | 64 (47.4%) | 15 (33.3%) |  |
Nerve Injury – n (%) |  |  |  |  |  |
 Yes | 178 (74.8%) | 42 (68.9%) | 99 (74.4%) | 37 (84.1%) | 0.21†|
 No | 60 (25.2%) | 19 (31.1%) | 34 (25.6%) | 7 (15.9%) |  |
Vessel Injury – n (%) |  |  |  |  |  |
 Artery | 97 (40.4%) | 25 (41.0%) | 52 (38.8%) | 20 (44.4%) | 0.80†|
 No | 143 (59.6%) | 36 (59.0%) | 82 (61.2%) | 25 (55.6%) |  |
 Vein | 52 (21.7%) | 14 (23.0%) | 24 (17.9%) | 14 (31.1%) | 0.17†|
 No | 188 (78.3%) | 47 (77.0%) | 110 (82.1%) | 31 (68.9%) |  |
Muscle Injury – n (%) |  |  |  |  |  |
 Mild | 67 (27.9%) | 30 (48.4%) | 31 (23.1%) | 6 (13.6%) | < 0.001†|
 Moderate | 144 (60.0%) | 24 (38.7%) | 89 (66.4%) | 31 (70.5%) |  |
 Severe | 29 (12.1%) | 8 (12.9%) | 14 (10.4%) | 7 (15.9%) |  |
Skin Injury – n (%) |  |  |  |  |  |
 Small | 10 (4.2%) | 8 (13.1%) | 2 (1.5%) | 0 (0.0%) | < 0.001‡ |
 Large | 230 (95.8%) | 53 (86.9%) | 132 (98.5%) | 45 (100.0%) |  |
Gustilo type – n (%) |  |  |  |  |  |
 IIIA | 49 (20.7%) | 17 (28.3%) | 23 (17.2%) | 9 (20.9%) | 0.42†|
 IIIB | 116 (48.9%) | 25 (41.7%) | 68 (50.7%) | 23 (53.5%) |  |
 IIIC | 72 (30.4%) | 18 (30.0%) | 43 (32.1%) | 11 (25.6%) |  |
Bone loss – n (%) |  |  |  |  |  |
 None | 29 (12.0%) | 10 (16.4%) | 19 (14.1%) | 0 (0.0%) | 0.07†|
 < 1 cm | 51 (21.2%) | 14 (23.0%) | 28 (20.7%) | 9 (20.0%) |  |
 > 1 cm | 161 (66.8%) | 37 (60.7%) | 88 (65.2%) | 36 (80.0%) |  |
Time injury to 1st admission – [days – n (%)] | |||||
 0 | 241 (98.8%) | 63 (98.4%) | 134 (99.3%) | 44 (97.8%) | 0.42‡ |
 ≥ 1 | 3 (1.2%) | 1 (1.6%) | 1 (0.7%) | 1 (2.2%) |  |
Length of stay (1st admission) – [days, median (IQR)] | |||||
|  | 6.5 (3.0-14.3) | 5.0 (3.0–13.0) | 6.0 (3.0–12.0) | 14.0 (8.0–29.0) | < 0.001* |
Total Length of stay – [days, median (IQR)] | |||||
|  | 25.5 (10.0-49.8) | 17.5 (5.3–56.8) | 28.0 (11.0–44.0) | 37.0 (13.5–76.0) | 0.02* |
Readmissions – Median (IQR) | |||||
|  | 3.0 (2.0–5.0) | 2.0 (1.0–5.0) | 3.0 (2.0–6.0) | 2.0 (1.0–5.0) | 0.002* |