Abstract:
Background: Degloving injuries result from avulsion of extensive portion of skin and subcutaneous
tissue from the underlying fascia, muscles and tendons. They commonly occur in orthopaedic surgery
with accompanied blood loss, concomitant injuries and contamination.
Objective: To determine the pattern, treatment, and early complications of degloving injuries.
Methods: A prospective study among 48 patients admitted with degloving injuries at Moi Teaching
and Referral Hospital-Kenya between 1st December 2016 and 30th November 2017. The diagnosis was
made through physical examination and ultrasonography followed by photo-documentation while
demographic and injury history were recorded in a questionnaire. Fisher’s exact test of association
between pattern of injury and complications was conducted.
Results: Median age was 26 (IQR: 18.5, 42.5) years with male to female ratio of 1.5:1. Most (75%) of the
injuries were from road traffic accidents commonly (n=23) affecting the lower limbs. Open degloving
injuries (n=44) either had single (n=29) or serial debridement (n=15) with the commonest definitive
treatment being primary closure (n=22). Closed degloving injuries were either conservatively managed
(n=2) or drained (n=2). Only 31.2% of the patients developed complications which statistically was
significantly associated (p=0.002) with the patterns of degloving injury.
Conclusion: Open degloving injuries affecting the lower limbs were commonest and were mainly
treated through primary closure. Early complications were associated with injury patterns and treatment
modality. There is need to develop institutional protocols for the treatment of degloving injuries to
reduce early complications
