Association of Hand Dominance with Mechanism and Type of Hand Trauma in Patients Presenting at Civil Hospital Karachi

Abstract: Background: All of the daily tasks in adults’ life such as eating, use of computers, kicking, throwing, learning, and writing are done with using the dominant hand. There are distinctive differences in hand functioning as an influence of hand dominance. Objective: To determine the pattern of hand injury, its mechanism and its association with hand dominance in patients presenting at emergency department of Civil Hospital Karachi. Materials and Methods: This cross-sectional study was performed in Emergency department, Civil Hospital Karachi during February to October, 2023. Adults of age 18 years and above of any gender presenting with acute hand injuries were included into the study. Patients committed suicide and amputed upper limbs were excluded from this study. Patients’ data was documented in a pre-designed proforma. Data was analyzed using SPSS version 26. Result: Total 249 patients were enrolled into the study. Median age of patients was 22 (IQR=18-33) years. Majority of patients were males (n=209, 80.6%). Majority had injury in their right hand (n=175, 70.3%) and dominant hand (n=171, 68.7%). The most common injury mode was road traffic accidents (n=90, 36.1%) followed by assault (n=71, 28.5%), workplace (n=70, 28.1%), burns (n=10, 4%) and knife cut injuries (n=8, 3.2%). Frequency of workplace injury was significantly higher among dominant hand than non-dominant hand. Frequency of RTA and assaults was higher in non-dominant hand (p<0.001). Conclusion: The present study analyzed that in most of hand injuries cases dominant hand was affected. Frequency of workplace related hand injuries was significantly higher among dominant hand than non-dominant hand.