Analysis and injury paterns of walnut tree falls in central anatolia of turkey

Introduction:Falls are the second most common cause of injury-associated mortality worldwide. This study aimed to analysis the injuries caused by falls from walnut tree and assess their mortality and morbidity risk.

Methods:This is a retrospective hospital-based study of patients presenting to emergency department (ED) of Ahi Evran Univercity between September and October 2012. For each casualty, we computed the ISS (defined as the sum of the squares of the highest Abbreviated Injury Scale (AIS) score in each of the three most severely injured body regions). Severe injury was defined as ISS ≥ 16. The duration of hospital stay and final outcome were recorded.Statistical comparisons were carried out with Chi-Square test for categorical data and non-parametric spearman correlation tests were used to test the association between variables. A p value less than 0.05 was considered to be statistically significant.

Results:Fifty-four patients admitted to our emergency department with fall from walnut tree. Fifty (92.6%) patients were male. The mean age was 48 ± 14 years. Spinal region (44.4%) and particularly lumbar area (25.9%) sustained the most of the injuries among all body parts. Wedge compression fractures ranked first among all spinal injuries. Extremities injuries were the second most common injury. None of the patients died. Morbidity rate was 9.25%.

ConclusIon:Falls from walnut trees are a significant health problem. Preventive measures including education of farmers and agricultural workers and using mechanized methods for harvesting walnut will lead to a dramatic decrease in mortality and morbidity caused by falls from walnut trees.

Keywords:Emergency, Falls, Walnut

Introduction:Falls are the second most common cause of injuryassociated mortality worldwide and an important type of blunt trauma which form a significant percentage of traumatic accidents and emergency department admissions [1,2]. Injuries due to falls are largely affected by the height of fall since the velocity and mass of the object determine the kinetic energy which the object gains during fall and is in turn converted to action-reaction forces at the time of impact so as the height increases injury of trauma due to falls becomes more severe although much lesser degree of fall injuries may lead to serious morbidity and mortality [3]. In rural areas where the agriculture is at the forefront, falls from trees constitute a different form of falls from height and as some trees possess unique biological features the severity of injury gains intensity like walnut trees [4,5]. Despite the fact that Turkey is one of the countries considered the homeland of walnut, there is only one study from our country about traumas associated with falls from walnut tree [6] and curiously enough, there were only a few studies in the literature worldwide about this topic (Table 1). This study aimed to analysis the injuries caused by falls from walnut tree and assess their mortality and morbidity risk.