[Epidemiology and socio-economic aspects of hand injuries].

Hand injuries are very common, especially in young adults of working age, and the consequences of these accidents on work capacity are significant: for the patient, a seemingly simple wound can cause prolonged time off work and jeopardize the pursuit of his career; for the community, the financial burden is colossal, mainly because of compensation, which represents 80% of the total cost (time off work and indemnity for sequelae). While substantial progress have been made in the prevention of occupational accidents, which account only for one third of hand injuries, improving the management of hand trauma should be undertaken through a better organization of existing resources and in particular: the prevention of domestic accidents, the orientation of the patients to an appropriate hand trauma center and patient coaching systematically when time off work exceeds three months. These measures have been shown in the literature to greatly improve the rate and speed of return to work.