Magnitude of position-related soft tissue injuries and associated factors among elective adult surgical patients at Tikur anbessa specialized hospital, Addis ababa, Ethiopia

BACKGROUND: Position-related soft tissue injuries are the cause of additional suffering for surgical patients, and increase treatment costs. Though its prevalence is underreported, its consequences range from acute mild injuries to lifelong disabilities. OBJECTIVE: To assess magnitude and associated factors of position-related soft tissue injuries among elective adult surgical patients at Tikur Anbessa Specialized Hospital, Addis Ababa. METHOD: An institutional-based cross-sectional study design was conducted among 292 elective adult surgical patients at Tikur Anbesa specialized hospital from January 1, 2021, to May 30, 2021. A systematic random sampling technique was used and data was collected by pre-tested questionnaire through data retrieval from chart and patients observation in the post anesthesia care unit. Both bi-variable and multi-variable logistic regression analysis were done to evaluate the association between dependent and independent variables. The level of statistical significance was decided at p-value less than 0.05. RESULTS: The magnitude of position-related soft tissue injuries in our study was 9.6%. The lower Body Mass Index AOR = 6.12; 95%CI: (1.02–16.3), surgical duration more than 4 h AOR = 5.04; 95%CI:(1.19–21.2) and lateral position AOR = 8.01; 95% CI: (1.2–30.5) were found to be independently associated with position related soft tissue injury. CONCLUSION: Our study found that the magnitude of position-related soft tissue injury was high. Surgical teams must develop the local protocol or adopt protocol to prevent the position-related soft tissue injury and factors associated should be identified a head of surgery.