Background: Hand injuries by labor accidents are first rank. It is necessary to have a multidisciplinary medical approach to frequently generated temporary and permanent disabilities that affect costs to an institution and to enterprise.
Objective: To determine the direct cost (DC) and the indirect cost (IC) of complete and partial amputations in hand caused by labor injuries.
Methods: An observational study was performed. The data was obtained from labor injuries with amputation of a finger or hand that received multidisciplinary management. The costs were calculated according to the list of Institutional Unit Costs. The IC were obtained with the "safety pays" program.
Results: We included 48 cases. The average age was 32.17 years; the cost of surgical operations was $767,470; and the payment of a partial disability permanent was $1,032,670; the DC of the sample of 48 workers was $2,955,007 with an IC of $3,250,507 and a total cost of $6,205,515, the average cost per worker of $51,741 for DC, $56,915 for IC and $108,657 for the total cost.
Conclusions: Costs of hand injures requires the creation of prevention programs.