Clinical features and outcomes of tetanus: a retrospective study Zhe Fan,1,2 Yue Zhao,3 Shuang Wang,3 Feng Zhang,4 Chengjun Zhuang51Department of General Surgery, The Third People’s Hospital of Dalian, Dalian Medical University, Dalian, People’s Republic of China; 2Department of General Surgery, Zhongda Hospital, School of Medicine, Southeast University, Nanjing, People’s Republic of China; 3Graduate School, Dalian Medical University, Dalian, People’s Republic of China; 4Department of General Surgery, The Second Affiliated Hospital of Dalian Medical University, Dalian, People’s Republic of China; 5Department of Critical Care Medicine, The Second Affiliated Hospital of Dalian Medical University, Dalian, People’s Republic of ChinaBackground: Tetanus is a serious disease resulting in muscle spasm, and even death.Methods: A retrospective, single-center study was conducted by analyzing demographic and clinical parameters.Results: The study included 12 males (70.6%) and 5 females (29.4%). The mean age of the patients was 56.71±9.05 years. Patient occupations included farming (47.0%), retired (23.5), homebound (23.5), and workers (6.0%). The causes of patient injuries were as follows: metal injury (52.9%), deep injury (29.4%), electrical injury (5.9%), maxillofacial region and knee injury (5.9%), and skin ulceration (5.9%). The disease duration ranged from 3 to 36 days, and the mean incubation period was 12.65±10.17 days. Four patients had co-morbidities. The infected patients were given tetanus antitoxin (TAT) and antibiotics treatment. One patient was given continuous renal replacement therapy (CRRT) and only one patient died.Conclusions: In our department, although tetanus is a serious disease, with effective treatment, patients have reasonable cure and low death rates.Keywords: tetanus, intensive care unit, retrospective study