Epidemiologic study of hand and upper extremity injuries by power tools

Abstract

Background Hand injuries caused by chain saws, electric saws, and hand grinders range from simple lacerations to tendon injuries, fractures, and even amputations. This study aimed to understand the distribution of various types of hand and upper extremity injuries caused by power tools, in order to help prevent them, by investigating the incidence and cause of power tool injuries treated over a 4-year period at a single institution in Korea. Methods We reviewed the medical records of patients who visited a single institution for power tool-induced injuries from 2011 to 2014. The distribution of sex, age, injured body part, type of injury, and mechanism of injury sustained by patients who received hand and upper extremity injuries from using an engine saw, electric saw, or hand grinder was evaluated. Results Among 594 subjects who were injured by power tools, 261 cases were hand and upper extremity injuries. The average age was 53.2 years. Tendon injury was the most common type of injury. An electric saw was the most common type of power tool used. More injuries occurred in non-occupational settings than in occupational settings. Conclusions In this study, power tool-induced hand and upper extremity injuries were mostly caused by direct contact with electric saw blades. More injuries occurred due to non-occupational use of these tools, but the ratios of amputations and structural injuries were similar in the non-occupational and occupational groups.

A characterization of home maintenance equipment-related hand and lower arm injuries

“…Prior studies have characterized traumatic hand injuries often due to specific pieces of equipment; still, to the best of the authors' knowledge, no studies have comprehensively examined the current state of upper extremity injuries attributable to an entire class of appliances. 11,12 Our results suggest that, among the many mechanisms of injury associated with home-maintenance supplies, most injuries result from manual tools and saws. This aligns with previous research which also suggested that older saws were most likely to injury older individuals; namely, following CPSC regulations on saws, older adults became more likely to be affected.…”

Comparison of Finger, Hand, and Wrist Injuries in the US Air Force to US Workers

“…Consistent with this study, open wounds have been found to be a leading FHW injury in the military and civilian populations. 5,27 In addition, previous studies found fractures accounted for a large proportion of FHW injuries in the USAF, other military agencies, and among civilians. 6,18,27,28 In addition, as we found in this study with females in the USAF, fractures have been found to be higher among those 55 years and older supporting the need for interventions specific to this group.…”

“…Compared with the US workforce age group of 35 to 44 years, workers aged 16 to 24 years had an incidence rate of FHW injuries that was 1.53 times higher. All other age groups in the US workforce (25)(26)(27)(28)(29)(30)(31)(32)(33)(34)(45)(46)(47)(48)(49)(50)(51)(52)(53)(54), and ≥55 years) had an incidence rate similar to the reference group (35-44 years). Among USAF personnel, males had an incidence rate of FHW injuries that was 1.63 times higher than females.…”

Estudio de las heridas por amoladora tratadas en el Hospital de Clínicas y Hospital Pasteur, Montevideo, Uruguay

“…Podríamos inferir que esto se debe a que en el hogar no utilizan las medidas de seguridad necesarias y que el nivel de expertise es menor que el de quienes se lesionan utilizando la herramienta para trabajar. Este dato se repite en la mayoría de los estudios publicados en la bibliografía, donde también la mayor parte de los accidentes se produce en el ámbito extralaboral (1)(2)(3)(4) .…”

“…En cuanto a las lesiones producidas, la gran mayoría ocurrió en los miembros superiores en el miembro no hábil, siendo más frecuentes en las manos, seguidas de las lesiones del antebrazo, lo que es consistente con la literatura (1,(3)(4)(5)(7)(8)(9)(10)(11) .…”