Abstract

Background: Cut throat injuries are rare but they are clinically important because multiple vital structures are prone to injuries in the small, confined area and patient needs prolonged hospitalzation. The aim of the study was to describe the etiology, patterns of injuries and management outcome of cut throat injuries.

Methods: This study was conducted at Maharani Laxmi Bai medical college for period of 12 months i.e from September 2017 to September 2018 and it was a combined retrospective and prospective study of cut throat injury patients.

Results: A total number of 20 patients with cut throat injuries were studied and most of the patient were from rural areas. Males were 12 and females were 8 in number. The average age of patients was 30 years (range 15 to 60 years).The most common cause of cut throat injuries was homicide, followed by accidental injuries. Interpersonal conflict was the most common factor for homicidal injury whereas road traffic accidents were commonly related to accidental injury and psychiatric illness most frequent cause of suicidal attempt. The most of the cases (13 out of 20 patient) presented with laryngeal injury. Surgical procedures were required to manage all patients of cut throat injury like simple closure, laryngotracheal repair and tracheostomy were performed in some of the patients depending on the extent of injury. Most common post operative complication is surgical site infections. The overall average duration of hospitalization was 20 days.

Conclusion: The management of cut throat injury patients require a multidisciplinary approach with close collaboration of otolaryngologist, anesthetist and psychiatrist. Cut throat injury is one of the cause of morbidity and mortality in our hospital.