An analysis of the spectrum of hand fractures recorded in the emergency department of a tertiary hospital. A comparison of the incidence of hand fractures among Polish and Ukrainian patients before and after the outbreak of the war in Ukraine

Introduction: Hand fractures are the most common fractures of the upper extremity. Following the outbreak of war in Ukraine, approx. 1.5 million Ukrainians fled to Poland. Many of these individuals quickly integrated into Polish society and found employment, often in manual labor. The objective of this study was to analyze the spectrum of hand fractures recorded in the emergency department of a tertiary hospital and compare the incidence of hand fractures among Polish and Ukrainian patients before (2020) and after (2022) the outbreak of the war in Ukraine.Materials and methods: The study utilized records from the database of the Emergency Department SPSK 1 in Szczecin from 2020 and 2022, representing the year before and the year of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.Results: A total of 344 hand fractures were recorded in 2020 and 437 in 2022. In both periods, the most common injuries were finger and metacarpal fractures, accounting for 74% (2020) and 72% (2022) of all fractures. In 2020, 12 Ukrainians were registered, representing 3.5% of all patients that year, while in 2022, there were 44 Ukrainians, representing 10% of all patients (statistically significant, p = 0.0004). The number of work-related fractures was significantly higher among Ukrainians than among Poles, in both 2020 (6% vs. 58%) and 2022 (8% vs. 61%; statistically significant, p = 0.0001).Conclusion: The higher incidence of hand injuries among Ukrainians may be due to less attention to work safety compared to Poles and the fact that they often work outside their trained professions, which increases the risk of injury.