Epidemiologic of orthopedic trauma study in a public emergency

Abstract Introduction The trauma has emerged as a serious public health problem, because it compromises the individual’s functionality as its social and economic participation in society. Method Retrospective study using information of 1390 records. Data collection occurred from September 2011 to February 2012 and the variables studied were: age, gender, mechanism of injury, the affected body part, treatment performed, conduction mode, day of the week that the service was performed, length of hospital stay and hospital output condition. Results The results showed a predominance of men in the age group 18-38 years. The orthopedic trauma was found more often in the lower limbs (23.2%) due to traffic accidents (60.1%). Surgical treatment was the most common (89.8%) and the majority of the patients progressed to discharge from the hospital (79.4%). Sunday was the day of the week that most trauma victims were admitted (18.9%) and ambulances from inside the municipalities were the main way to the hospital (34.1%). Most patients remained hospitalized for a period of 1 to 15 days (89.4%). Conclusion The results confirmed the need for preventive measures of orthopedic trauma associated with the awareness of the population on the morbidity caused by orthopedic trauma.