Objectives
The study objectives were to assess how GPs manage the risk of tetanus in wounds, compared to the French Health Ministry guidelines on tetanus toxoid vaccination and immunoglobulin injections.
Design
A cross-sectional survey was made using an online questionnaire sent to 3,165 GPs in the French Rhône-Alpes region.
Results
The answer rate was 9.1 % . Overall, 64.4 % of GP complied to recommendations. The best observance was noted for minor risk wounds and for patients whose last booster vaccination was less than 5 years old (P < 0.05). Generally, GPs underused tetanus toxoid vaccination (−17.1 % ) and overused immunoglobulin injections (+37.1 % ). The main difficulties encountered were assessing the patient and his wound, misuse of immunoglobulin injections, and ignorance of recommendations.
Conclusions
The higher the tetanic risk, the less recommendations were observed. A quick diagnostic test and a better availability of new easier to memorize recommendations should help GPs optimize their practices.
