An Overview of the Current Situation of Degloving Skin and Soft-Tissue Injuries in China: A Retrospective Study of the Inpatients with DSTI from 2013 to 2018

Abstract Background: Degloving skin and soft-tissue injury (DSTI) is a kind of serious lesion in the field of surgery, with potential risk of morbidity and mortality. This study is aimed to summarize and analyze the current situation of DSTI in China, so as to provide enlightenments for better prevention and treatment. Methods: By searching inpatients’ information on the first page recorded by the Hospital Quality Monitoring System from January 1, 2013 to December 31, 2018, patients diagnosed with DSTI were identified and screened based on the International Classification of Diseases coding System. Demographic characteristics, injury and cost information were collected for analysis. Results: There were 62709 patients who were diagnosed with DSTI, of whom 67.41% were males with a mean age of 43.01±19.70. Peasants and workers, traffic-related accidents and falls, summer and autumn accounted for high percentage of the study indicators. The operation rate of DSTI roughly showed a growing trend, and the average length of stay was 22.02±29.73 days, during which time 0.93% of the patients ended up in death. Medicine took up the first place of the hospitalization expense, but was decreasing year by year, while the proportion of other expenses gradually increased. More than half of the patients paid at their own charge, but the ratio of urban medical insurance was rising. The most and least frequent anatomic site of DSTI were lower extremity (43.40%) and torso (1.59%). Each injury site showed its own characteristics. Conclusions: This is the first retrospective study that targeted a nationwide data bank to make a relatively detailed epidemiological analysis of DSTIs from 2013 to 2018 in China. From this work, not only a preliminary understanding but also enlightenments for better prevention and treatment of DSTI has been gained.