title: Epidemiological patterns and preventability of traumatic hand amputations among adults in Greece.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Hand/finger amputations though rare account for significant disability and health-related costs; yet, information on underlying causes, springing mostly from physicians' reports, is rather anecdotal. We sought to draw attention to the high preventable fraction of hand/finger amputations among adults in Greece.
  
  
  METHODS
  Data on external cause of injury and short-term outcome, recorded over nine years in the Emergency Department Injury Surveillance System (EDISS) were analysed, whereas sample weights were used for nationwide extrapolations.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Hand/finger injuries accounted for 20.4% (N = 57,986) among 284,705 injuries recorded in patients >14-year-old (3% annual probability); 728 (1.3%) resulted in amputations; the estimated incidence rate (IR) was 39.3/100,000 person-years, reaching a high 92.6/100,000 among males aged 45-64 years. As expected, the vast majority of victims were males (90%), frequently young immigrants; ∼two-thirds sustained occupational injuries during working hours. Objects most frequently involved included: machinery (57% overall/69% occupational), means of transport (10.4%), materials (9.5%), parts of buildings/furniture (5%). Wood-working was the most common risk factor (20% overall/28% occupational) whereas 6% of victims accepted own inattention. 30% of amputations were hospitalised whereas 10% transferred to specialised units.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Specialised registries reveal the magnitude and specific causes of disabling hand injuries and point to tailored national injury prevention programs; specifically in Greece, as they occur in more controlled occupational environments among middle-aged males, woodworkers, and are caused mainly by machinery.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Increased management of safety in the workplace could play a role in reduction in hand amputations.
authors.affiliation: Department of Hygiene, Epidemiology, and Medical Statistics, Athens University Medical School, Athens, Greece.
authors.forename: Paraskevi
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Panagopoulou
authors.forename: Constantine N
authors.initials: CN
authors.lastname: Antonopoulos
authors.forename: Nick
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Dessypris
authors.forename: Prodromos
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Kanavidis
authors.forename: Theodoros
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Michelakos
authors.forename: Eleni Th
authors.initials: ET
authors.lastname: Petridou
mesh_terms: D000061:Accidents, Home / Q000517:prevention & control / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D017677:Age Distribution; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D000673:Amputation, Traumatic / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000517:prevention & control*; D006233:Persons with Disabilities / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D004636:Emergency Service, Hospital / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D005260:Female; D005383:Finger Injuries / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000517:prevention & control; D006115:Greece / Q000453:epidemiology; D006230:Hand Injuries / Q000150:complications / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000517:prevention & control*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D060051:Occupational Injuries / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000517:prevention & control; D011159:Population Surveillance; D012307:Risk Factors; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D055815:Young Adult