Perfil epidemiológico de pacientes vítimas de escalpelamento tratados na Fundação Santa Casa de Misericórdia do Pará Epidemiological profile of scalping victim-patients treated at the Fundação Santa Casa de Misericórdia do Pará

ABSTRACTBackground: Scalping is a trauma caused by partial or total avulsion of the scalp. It is primarily due to accidental contact of long hair with the rotary shaft of a motor. Rotary shafts suck in the victim’s hair, causing traction and abruptly pulling the scalp off. Me-thods: A longitudinal, observational, retrospective, and descriptive study of 62 scalping victim-patients treated at Fundacao Santa Casa de Misericordia do Para was conducted. Results: The most commonly affected patients were children between 7 and 16 years of age (56.4%) and women (93.5%); 59.7% were students and 43.5% were Catholics. Con-clusions: Prophylactic campaigns about the risks of traveling in and maintaining a vessel without motor shaft protection are essential because scalping is primarily caused by hair twisting around the motor shaft. Keywords: Scalp. Wounds and injuries. Accident prevention. Trabalho realizado na Fundacao Santa Casa de Misericordia do Para, Belem, PA, Brasil. Artigo submetido pelo SGP(Sistema de Gestao de Publicacoes) da RBCP.Artigo recebido: 9/12/2011 Artigo aceito: 18/1/2012