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Orthopaedic trauma epidemiology after Hurricane Maria in the Puerto Rico Trauma Centre

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Abstract

Purpose

Hurricane Maria is the most devastating natural phenomenon in the recent history of Puerto Rico. Due to its destructive path through the island, the Puerto Rico Trauma Center (PRTC) remained the only hospital managing orthopaedic trauma in the immediate post-disaster period. We investigated the impact of this hurricane on the orthopaedic trauma epidemiology in the PRTC.

Methods

We evaluated the admissions by the orthopaedic surgery service in terms of demographics, mechanisms of injury, and orthopaedic diagnoses for two months after the impact of Hurricane Maria (HM) on September 20, 2017. We compared our study group with the same two month period for two years prior (2015 and 2016) and after (2018 and 2019) as control periods. A p value of < 0.05 was considered statistically significant.

Results

We included 384 admissions from September 20 to November 20, 2017. The majority were males (63%) and had an average age of 54 years. The most-reported mechanism of injury was fall from standing height (FFSH), showing a significant increment compared with the control periods. Contrarily, motor vehicle accidents (MVA) showed a significant reduction. Among the orthopaedic diagnoses, the hip + pelvis category showed a significant decline within the study group.

Conclusions

This study highlighted the impact of HM on the orthopaedic trauma epidemiology at the PRTC. Our findings provide valuable evidence to healthcare institutions to better prepare to manage the potential changes in the orthopaedic trauma epidemiology after a major atmospheric event.

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Data availability

The data that support the findings of this study are available from the authors, upon reasonable request.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Orthopaedic Surgery, University of Puerto Rico, Medical Sciences Campus, San Juan, Puerto Rico

    Omar Rodríguez-Alejandro, Norberto J. Torres-Lugo, Danny Mangual-Pérez, Roberto Colón-Miranda, Héctor Sánchez-Fernández & Antonio Otero-López

  2. School of Medicine, University of Puerto Rico, Medical Sciences Campus, San Juan, Puerto Rico

    José López-Ventosa

  3. School of Medicine, Universidad Central del Caribe, Bayamón, Puerto Rico

    Calé Pagán-Molderhauer

  4. Department of Orthopaedic Surgery, Mayagüez Medical Centeu, Mayagüez, Puerto Rico

    Norman Ramírez

Authors
  1. Omar Rodríguez-Alejandro
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  2. Norberto J. Torres-Lugo
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  3. Danny Mangual-Pérez
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  4. Roberto Colón-Miranda
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  5. Héctor Sánchez-Fernández
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  6. José López-Ventosa
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  7. Calé Pagán-Molderhauer
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  8. Norman Ramírez
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  9. Antonio Otero-López
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Contributions

All authors contributed to the study conception and design. Material preparation, data collection, and analysis were performed by Héctor Sánchez-Fernández, José López-Ventosa and Cale Pagán-Moldenhauer. The first draft of the manuscript was written by Norberto J. Torres-Lugo and all authors commented on previous versions of the manuscript. All authors read and approved the final manuscript.

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Norberto J. Torres-Lugo.

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Ethics approval

This study was performed in line with the principles of the Declaration of Helsinki. Approval was granted by the Ethics Committee of the University of Puerto Rico, Medical Sciences Campus (Protocol #B0110118).

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The authors declare no competing interests.

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Cite this article

Rodríguez-Alejandro, O., Torres-Lugo, N.J., Mangual-Pérez, D. et al. Orthopaedic trauma epidemiology after Hurricane Maria in the Puerto Rico Trauma Centre. International Orthopaedics (SICOT) 46, 1447–1453 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00264-022-05409-x

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00264-022-05409-x

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