Most frequent traumatic injury in 2 prison detention centers, an observational study

Abstract

Background: Prisons are a source of inherent violence and an environment conducive to traumatic injuries.

Aim: The objective of this paper is to describe the income and evolution profile of hospitalized people deprived of liberty at the tertiary level due to trauma that occurred in two prison detention centers in Santiago, that enters our service.

Materials and Method: Descriptive study, included the review of clinical records in our hospital, during the period between August 2009 and December 2016.

Results: 88 consultations of people deprived of liberty, where 46 consultations for traumatic injuries were obtained. A symmetric distribution was observed for the variables age, mean arterial pressure, heart rate, hematocrit, hemoglobin and leukocyte count. The most frequent trauma site was the thorax and abdomen (including front face and full back), each with 18 patients (39.13% each). The most frequent diagnosis of admission was pneumothorax in twelve subjects. The main treatments were 16 exploratory laparotomies (34.78, 95% CI: 22.68 to 49.23) and 12 pleurostomies (26.09, 95% CI: 15.60 to 40.26). The duration of hospitalization distributed asymmetrically, with a median of 3 days. We had 6 readmissions (13.04%) in the first 30 days after discharge and one mortality.

Conclusions: The violence in this two prison detention centers, in Santiago, is a diagnosis that appears in the urgency of our hospital, with lesions of different severity and treatment. It is necessary to anticipate these scenarios, where we now know that a large part of them will need some procedure or intervention.