Wounding-To-Door Time Metrics Outcome of Traumatic Simple Wounds in Emergency Department

Objective: To examine the relationship between wounding-to-door time and wound healing duration in patients with simple traumatic wounds admitted to Shahid Rajaei Emergency Department (ED) in Tonekabon city during the COVID-19 pandemic. Methods: This was a prospective longitudinal study on patients with simple traumatic wounds referred to ED of Shahid Rajaei Hospital in Tonekabon from April to the end of September 2021 were examined for demographics, trauma to hospital door, and body mass index. Patients were followed for wound healing for a month. Data was analyzed by considering the wound healing time as the primary outcome. Results: There were 142 were males and 45 were females. The mean age of the subjects was 32.24±18.25. The mean wound-to-door time was 4.3±2.7 hours. The maximum and minimum wound-to-door time was 17 hours and 1 hour, respectively. The average wound healing duration was 14.3±3.6 days. A significant positive correlation was found between the wound healing duration and wound-to-door time (r= 0.435, P< 0.001). When analyzing subgroups of patients based on the BMI, antibiotic use, smoking status, and some wound locations, there was no significant correlation between wound healing duration and wounding-to-door time (P> 0.05).  Conclusion: This study revealed that delayed visit of ED for receiving proper wound care would be associated with increased wound healing duration; while this relationship is being modified by smoking status, using antibiotics, and the BMI.