Explosion injuries in Finland 1991-1995.

BACKGROUND AND AIMS: Explosion injuries have been considered an increasing problem in many countries. This study describes the incidence and significance of injuries of this kind in Finland.

MATERIAL AND

METHODS

All explosion injuries in the Finnish hospital records from January 1991 to December 1995 were studied.

RESULTS

A total of 493 persons (2.0 cases per 100,000 person-years) required hospital treatment for injuries caused by explosions. In addition to the injured, 14 persons died. Causes of the accidents were the following: various unspecified explosions in 32% of the cases, fireworks in 29%, explosive materials in 25%, and explosions of pressure vessels in 13%. The male to female ratio was 9:1, and the average age of the injured was 30 years. The injury profile showed soft tissue wounds in 26%, burns in 25%, ear and eye injuries in 23%, crush and traumatic amputations in 14%, fractures in 10%, and neurological in 2%. The average in-patient time was 11 days corresponding to altogether 5640 hospital days.

CONCLUSIONS

Explosion injuries are epidemiologically not a great problem in comparison with all accidents, but neither can they be considered nowadays as a negligible medical problem in Finland.