Citation

Yildirimer L, Brewster CT, Aziz H, Unluer Z, Jemec B, de Leo A. J. Hand Surg. Eur. Vol. 2019; 44(4): 419-423.

Affiliation

Plastic Surgery Department, Royal Free London NHS Foundation Trust, London, UK.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2019, SAGE Publishing)

DOI

10.1177/1753193419826465

PMID

30776945

Abstract

The aim of this study was to analyse the management of nail bed injuries from a clinical and economic perspective. We carried out a retrospective analysis of nail bed injuries treated operatively at a tertiary Plastic Surgery Hand Trauma Unit during 2016. The National Schedule of Reference Costs (2015-2016) was used to estimate the costs of treating 630 patients. The most common mechanism was a crush injury in a door (33%). Fifty-five per cent of patients had an associated tuft fracture. The minimum cost per annum for patients treated for nail bed injuries in our unit was calculated to be £511,560 (€573,362; US$666,664). Many nail bed injuries are preventable and because they present a very high financial burden on the National Health Service, targeted prevention strategies should be considered. Level of evidence: IV.

Language: en

Keywords

Nail bed; cost analysis; cost saving; crush fracture; injury; laceration