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Musculoskeletal Injuries Among Victims of the Battagram, Pakistan Earthquake in October 2005

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  21 August 2012

Ghulam Mustafa Kaim Khani ,
Akhtar Baig ,
Mujahid Humail ,
Manzoor Memon  and
M.A. Quarashi
Ghulam Mustafa Kaim Khani*
Affiliation:
Orthopaedic Unit 1, Dow University of Health Sciences and Civil Hospital Karachi, Karachi, Pakistan
Akhtar Baig
Affiliation:
Orthopaedic Unit 1, Dow University of Health Sciences and Civil Hospital Karachi, Karachi, Pakistan
Mujahid Humail
Affiliation:
Orthopaedic Unit 1, Dow University of Health Sciences and Civil Hospital Karachi, Karachi, Pakistan
Manzoor Memon
Affiliation:
Orthopaedic Unit 1, Dow University of Health Sciences and Civil Hospital Karachi, Karachi, Pakistan
M.A. Quarashi
Affiliation:
Orthopaedic Unit 1, Dow University of Health Sciences and Civil Hospital Karachi, Karachi, Pakistan
*
Correspondence: Ghulam Mustafa Kaim Khani, FCPS Orthopaedic Unit 1 Dow University of Health Sciences and Civil Hospital Karachi Karachi, Pakistan E-mail: drkk58@hotmail.com
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Abstract

Objective

This study was conducted to assess the type, pattern, and severity of musculoskeletal injuries, as well as the type of simple orthopedic surgical procedures, that can be performed at the site of a disaster.

Methods

This was a cross-sectional study conducted in Battagram, located in the North West Frontier Province of Pakistan after the October 2005 earthquake. Researchers arrived in the affected area during the second week after the earthquake, and remained there for one week. During this period, patients were received from distant areas of the district. These patients were admitted to a tent hospital because the district headquarters hospital was completely damaged. Those requiring orthopedic surgical intervention or closed manipulation and plaster of paris casts were included in the study.

Results

Of 110 patients, 61 were female and 49 were male, and 140 bones were involved. In this series, 92 fractures were closed, while 48 were open. A total of 67.3% of the patients were <40 years of age. The tibia was involved in 32.1% of cases and the femur 16.4%. No cases of compartment syndrome were found. Wound debridement was performed in 35 cases. An external fixator was applied to 10 cases of open tibia fractures. Four humerus fractures and a fracture to the radius and ulna were fixed with the Rashnail method. One open femur fracture was repaired with external fixation. Pre- and post-operative antibiotics were administered in all cases. Thirty patients sustained injuries in addition to orthopedic trauma: 13 vertebral injuries, eight head injuries, six fractured ribs, three blunt injuries to the abdomen, and 10 significant soft tissues injuries without bony involvement.

Conclusions

After the earthquake in Battagram, young persons, especially females, were prone to orthopedic injuries, mainly involving the extremities. A comprehensive disaster plan would have helped to manage these emergencies, and further experience is needed for on-site surgical interventions.

Kaim KhaniGM, BaigA, HumailM, MemonM, QuarashiMA. Musculoskeletal Injuries Among Victims of the Battagram, Pakistan Earthquake in October 2005. Prehosp Disaster Med.2012;27(5):1-3.

Keywords

disaster planningearthquakemusculoskeletal injuries
Type
Brief Report
Information
Prehospital and Disaster Medicine , Volume 27 , Issue 5 , October 2012 , pp. 489 - 491
Copyright
Copyright © World Association for Disaster and Emergency Medicine 2012

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