It Could Have Been Protected But Wasn’t

Objectives: Percutaneous injuries create an occupational risk shared for all health workers. Our study aimed to identify the epidemiology of incised wounds that have occurred within the past four years and the effectiveness of preventive measures at the Kahramanmaraş Sütçü İmam University Faculty of Medicine Hospital. Methods: This research was carried out retrospectively with the incised wound cases that occurred at the KSU Faculty of Medicine Hospital between January 1st, 2013 and December 31st, 2016. Health personnel were examined in terms of gender, professional job position groups, forms of injury, locations of injury, compliance with protective barriers used, and precautions taken. Results: The most frequently injured bodily region was the left hand with 122 (51.2%), followed by the right hand with 104 (43.6%). The most frequent injury took place while recapping to cover the tip of a needle with 86 (36.0%). No type of protective equipments was used for 169 (71.0%) of the health personnel who were included in the study. Conclusion: That there was high noncompliance with the use of protective equipment revealed that health workers needed to be subjected to certain, periodic training. In addition to this, the care for injuries and the provision of training in which the infection control committee needed to be referred to in situations of injury was brought to the forefront.