Pretibial lacerations among elderly patients

xlomafota13 shared this article with you from Inoreader Pretibial lacerations among elderly patients: A province-wide study from Kymenlaakso, Finland, 2015-2019. Via Journal of plastic, reconstructive & aesthetic surgery : JPRAS Related Articles Pretibial lacerations among elderly patients: A province-wide study from Kymenlaakso, Finland, 2015-2019. J Plast Reconstr Aesthet Surg. 2021 Jan 23;: Authors: Seppälä T, Grünthal V, Koljonen V Abstract In this retrospective cohort study, we analysed treatment and outcomes among ≥65-year-old patients who experienced a traumatic pretibial laceration in the province of Kymenlaakso, Finland, between 2015 and 2019. We reviewed computerised medical records for 116 patients with a pretibial laceration, 107 of whom we analysed in further detail. Patients were traced from injury to healing, including rehabilitation periods in health care centres. As expected, the majority of patients were elderly women (67%). Most lacerations were superficial and small, explaining why treatment was mostly conservative. Only 11 (9.48%) patients were treated operatively with surgical debridement or a split-thickness skin graft. The number of overall complications in wounds was high, with a complication rate of 30.2%. Most complications were local wound infections. We found that wound healing took more than 3 months in 32% of patients. Thorough patient tracing revealed numerous follow-up visits and l ong rehabilitative hospitalisation periods, indicating a significant decline in patient independence and the excessive use of resources. Successful wound healing was eventually observed in 89.66% patients. Furthermore, no terminology regarding pretibial lacerations was found in patient records. This study indicates that pretibial lacerations remain poorly recognised and understood in Finland. PMID: 33573887 [PubMed - as supplied by publisher] View on the web Inoreader. Take back control of your news feed. Follow us on Twitter and Facebook.