Finger injuries by fast rotating blades: A case report of an accident with a blender and the intervention of the fire brigade
Fingerverletzungen durch schnell rotierende Klingen: Ein Fallbericht eines Unfalls mit einem Mixer und dem Eingreifen der Feuerwehr
Abstract
We present a case report of a 27-year-old female who had an accident with a blender. She was brought to the Emergency Department having
Matthias Hillenbrand
1Raymund E. Horch
1pinched her left forefinger between the blades. Previous attempts by the local fire brigade to free the finger initially failed. After several at-
tempts it finally succeeded by turning it carefully away from the blade. 1 Department of Plastic and Hand Surgery, University Although first impressions of the accident might have expected a worse
Hospital of Erlangen, Germany
injury, fortunately it just showed a nail bed cut. Most accidents of this type cause serious injuries with the involvement of vessels, nerves, tendons, muscles or bones.
Keywords:finger injuries, hand injuries, emergency care
Zusammenfassung
Wir präsentieren einen Fallbericht einer 27-jährigen Frau, die einen Unfall mit einem Mixer hatte. Sie wurde mit ihrem linken Zeigefinger zwischen den Klingen eingeklemmt in die Notaufnahme gebracht. Vor- herige Versuche der örtlichen Feuerwehr, den Finger herauszulösen, waren zunächst gescheitert. Nach mehreren Anläufen ist es schließlich doch gelungen, indem der Finger vorsichtig von der Klinge weggedreht wurde. Obwohl die ersten Eindrücke des Unfalls eine Verletzung schlimmeren Ausmaßes hätten vermuten lassen, zeigte sich zum Glück nur eine Schnittverletzung des Nagelbetts. Die meisten Unfälle dieser Art führen zu schweren Verletzungen mit Beteiligung von Gefäßen, Nerven, Sehnen, Muskeln oder Knochen.
Introduction
Most accidents with fast rotating blades cause serious injuries with the involvement of vessels, nerves, tendons, muscles or bones [1]. There are only a few cases in which they end off lightly. In addition to carelessness, insuffi- cient precautions of the device play a crucial role in the development of these injuries.
Case report
A 27-year-old female was brought to the Emergency De- partment having pinched her left forefinger in a blender.
The accident occurred at home while mixing puree for her baby. Previous attempts by the local fire brigade to free the finger initially failed. On closer examination the distal phalanx of her left forefinger was found pinched
between one of the three blades and the interior wall of the blender (Figure 1). The other fingers of the left hand were found free and unharmed. The fire brigade tried unsuccessfully to cut the blades of the blender with a side cutter. Considering the unfavourable position of the finger, the risk of further damages was too high. Under local anaesthesia it finally succeeded to free the finger by turning it carefully away from the blade. Although first impressions of the accident might have expected a worse injury, fortunately it just showed a nail bed cut. There were no bone fractures or tendon injuries found. Peripher- al perfusion and sensibility were unimpaired. Under con- tinued local anaesthesia and tourniquet control of the left forefinger the nail was removed and a nail bed suture was performed [2]. Finally an artificially nail was im- planted (Figure 2). The forefinger was kept in a special splint for 1 week [3].
1/3 GMS German Plastic, Reconstructive and Aesthetic Surgery 2014, Vol. 4, ISSN 2193-7052
Case Report
OPEN ACCESS
Figure 1: The distal phalanx of the left forefinger is pinched between a blade and the interior wall of the blender.
Figure 2: One week after the accident. A nail bed suture of the left forefinger was performed and an artificially nail was
implanted.
Discussion
Most injuries with fast rotating blades happen due to carelessness. As seen in this case, there is often an at- tempt to remove things with fingers between the sup- posedly stationary blades. An unconsciously trigger of the start button leads to the activation of the blender, which can have fatal consequences. Today, many modern blenders can only be activated after closing the lid, which can avoid these types of accidents. For the extent of the injury the performance of the blender and the span of the blades is of great importance [4]. In this case it was an older device with a short span of blades and probably less performance.
Conclusion
In principle, all attempts should be avoided to put fingers or any rigid objects even in seemingly switched off blenders. In any case it should be ensured that the device is unplugged. The safety precautions in old devices are often much too low. As long as they are still in use, injuries by fast rotating blades like in this case are to be expected.
Notes
Competing interests
The authors declare that they have no competing in- terests.
References
1. Vollman D, Khosla K, Shields BJ, Beeghly BC, Bonsu B, Smith GA. Lawn mower-related injuries to children. J Trauma. 2005 Sep;59(3):724-8.
2. Bindra RR. Management of nail-bed fracture-lacerations using a tension-band suture. J Hand Surg Am. 1996 Nov;21(6):1111- 3. DOI: 10.1016/S0363-5023(96)80329-7
3. Gahankari DR, Lalwani NR. Finger injury splints. Br J Plast Surg.
1993 Jun;46(4):344. DOI: 10.1016/0007-1226(93)90023-5 4. Sudah OS, Coffin-Beach D, Muzzio FJ. Effects of blender rotational
speed and discharge on the homogeneity of cohesive and free- flowing mixtures. Int J Pharm. 2002 Oct;247(1-2):57-68. DOI:
10.1016/S0378-5173(02)00377-0
Corresponding author:
Matthias Hillenbrand, MD
Department of Plastic and Hand Surgery, University Hospital of Erlangen, Krankenhausstr. 12, 91054 Erlangen, Germany
matthias.hillenbrand@uk-erlangen.de
2/3 GMS German Plastic, Reconstructive and Aesthetic Surgery 2014, Vol. 4, ISSN 2193-7052
Hillenbrand et al.: Finger injuries by fast rotating blades: A case report ...
Please cite as
Hillenbrand M, Horch RE. Finger injuries by fast rotating blades: A case report of an accident with a blender and the intervention of the fire brigade. GMS Ger Plast Reconstr Aesthet Surg. 2014;4:Doc02.
DOI: 10.3205/gpras000021, URN: urn:nbn:de:0183-gpras0000216
This article is freely available from
http://www.egms.de/en/journals/gpras/2014-4/gpras000021.shtml
Published:2014-01-15
Copyright
©2014 Hillenbrand et al. This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/3.0/deed.en). You are free: to Share — to copy, distribute and transmit the work, provided the original author and source are credited.
3/3 GMS German Plastic, Reconstructive and Aesthetic Surgery 2014, Vol. 4, ISSN 2193-7052
Hillenbrand et al.: Finger injuries by fast rotating blades: A case report ...
