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Disaster-Related Injury Management: High Prevalence of Wound Infection After Super Typhoon Haiyan

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  02 September 2015

Yong Won Kim Open the ORCID record for Yong Won Kim [Opens in a new window] ,
Seong Yeop Kim ,
Hoon Kim ,
Moo Eob Ahn ,
Kang Hyun Lee Open the ORCID record for Kang Hyun Lee [Opens in a new window]  and
Eun Seok Hong
Yong Won Kim
Affiliation:
Department of Emergency Medicine, Wonju College of Medicine, Yonsei University, Republic of Korea
Seong Yeop Kim
Affiliation:
Department of General Surgery, Wonju College of Medicine, Yonsei University, Republic of Korea
Hoon Kim
Affiliation:
Department of Emergency Medicine, Inje University Ilsan Paik Hospital, Republic of Korea
Moo Eob Ahn
Affiliation:
Department of Emergency Medicine, College of Medicine, Hanlim University, Republic of Korea
Kang Hyun Lee
Affiliation:
Department of Emergency Medicine, Wonju College of Medicine, Yonsei University, Republic of Korea
Eun Seok Hong*
Affiliation:
Department of Emergency Medicine, College of Medicine, Ulsan University, Republic of Korea.
*
Correspondence and reprint requests to Eun Seok Hong, MD, Department of Emergency Medicine, College of Medicine, Ulsan University, 877 Jeonha-dong, Dong-gu, Ulsan 682-714, Republic of Korea (e-mail: [email protected]).
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Abstract

Background

After Super Typhoon Haiyan, a category 5 tropical cyclone, insufficient resources were available for medical management. Many patients in the Philippines were wounded as a result of the disaster. We examined the prevalence, risk factors, and consequences of disaster-related wounds and wound infection in the post-disaster period.

Methods

We performed a retrospective review of consecutive patients admitted to a Korean Disaster Relief Team clinic at St. Paul’s Hospital, Tacloban City, Republic of Philippines, between December 9 and 13, 2013. Traumatic injury patients were included; patients not exhibiting a wound were excluded.

Results

Of the 160 patients enrolled in the study, 71 (44.4%) had infected wounds. There were no significant differences in the age, sex, past medical history, wound site, wound depth, injury mechanism, or inducer of injury between the uninfected and infected groups. In the univariate analysis, a foreign-body-contaminated wound, a chronic wound, elapsed time from injury to medical contact, an inadequately cared for wound, and need for subsequent wound management were associated with wound infection (P<0.05). The multivariate analysis revealed that foreign body contamination and having an inadequately cared for wound were associated with wound infection (odds ratio [OR]: 10.12, 95% confidence interval [CI]: 3.59-28.56; OR: 3.51, 95% CI: 1.07-11.51, respectively).

Conclusion

In the post-disaster situation, many wound infections required definitive care. Wound infection was associated with inadequately cared for wounds and foreign-body-contaminated wounds. (Disaster Med Public Health Preparedness. 2016;10:28–33)

Keywords

tropical stormwounds and injuriesnatural disasters
Type
Brief Reports
Information
Disaster Medicine and Public Health Preparedness , Volume 10 , Issue 1 , February 2016 , pp. 28 - 33
Copyright
Copyright © Society for Disaster Medicine and Public Health, Inc. 2015 

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