Abstract
Objectives
To asses the pattern of kite related injuries during Bassant season and the burden on health system with financial implications on society.
Patients and Methods
This descriptive study was conducted in the Departments of General and Neurosurgery District Head Quarter Hospital Rawalpindi from 1st January 2007 to 31st December 2007. 170 patients due to kite related injuries were admitted in the different departments of hospital who volunteered for the study were given a questionnaire including presenting complaints, mechanism of injury, timing of injury, time elapsed between injury and reaching the emergency department, mode of transfer to the hospital and whether the patient was directly involved in kite flying or not. Duration of stay in the hospital with any operative procedure like amputation was noted.
Results
During the study period, 8542 patients were attended in the emergency department. Out of these, 170 patients had kite related injuries. Other patients who had minor injuries like cuts, stabs, and head injuries were managed in the casualty department and discharged within 24 hours. Six patients had irreversible injuries like amputation of limbs, nephrectomy and complicated contractures due to electric burns.
Conclusion
Though it is a relatively small number of patients but all of them were children and young adults with mean age of 15. These types of injuries were causing 5-6 permanent disabled in one city of Pakistan per year to otherwise useful citizens. Thus, kite related injuries are not only causing extra burden on the health system but also resulting in negative impact on the society. Fortunately, we can prevent most of these injuries by taking administrative steps.