Glass injuries seen in the emergency department of a South African district hospital

Abstract

Background: The emergency department of Embhuleni Hospital frequently manages patients with glass-related injuries. This study assessed these injuries and the glass that caused them in more detail.

Aim: The objectives of our study included determining the type of glass causing these injuries and describing the circumstances associated with different types of glass injuries.

Setting: The emergency department of Embhuleni Hospital in Elukwatini, Mpumalanga province, South Africa.

Methods: This was a cross-sectional study with a sample size of 104 patients. Descriptive statistics were used to assess the characteristics of the glass injuries.

Results: Five different types of glass were reported to have caused the injuries, namely car glass (7.69%), glass ampoules (3.85%), glass bottles (82.69%), glass windows (3.85%) and street glass shards (1.92%). Glass bottle injuries were mainly caused by assaults (90.47%) and most victims were mostly young males (80.23%). The assaults occurred at alcohol-licensed premises in 65.11% of cases. These injuries occurred mostly over weekends (83.72%), between 18:00 and 04:00. The face (34.23%) and the scalp (26.84%) were the sites that were injured most often.

Conclusion: Assault is the most common cause of glass injuries, usually involving young men at alcohol-licensed premises. Glass injuries generally resulted in minor lacerations, with few complications (2.68%).