Sharing Tension to Repair Chainsaw Injuries

​As autumn rolls around, many people are cutting wood for their fireplaces, which can precipitate chainsaw, axe, and saw injuries. These lacerations can be tricky to repair because they often bleed profusely and leave jagged edges. They may also be dirty and harbor foreign bodies such as wood chips, metal, and rust. They may even disrupt underlying tendons, ligaments, and bones. Amputations are uncommon, but do occur.Extremity injuries from chainsaws leave ugly, macerated skin disruptions and lacerations. Even chainsaws that are turned off may cause lacerations and puncture wounds. Most injuries affect the hands and legs, but head and neck injuries account for 10 percent of chainsaw injuries. Dying from a chainsaw injury is rare, but head and neck injuries can be devastating. (J Forensic Sci. 2004;49[2]:345.)About 36,000 people seek ED care for chainsaw injuries each year, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (Oct. 17, 2017; http://bit.ly/32VjL1d.) But another paper reported 115,895 ED visits between 2009 and 2013 for chainsaw injuries (an average of 23,000 a year), most among men (95%) aged 30-59. Injuries were most commonly on the hand, fingers, and knee. (Advances in Emergency Medicine. Vol. 2015, Article ID 459697, https://doi.org/10.1155/2015/459697.)It may be useful to review safety precautions with patients to avoid repeat injury:Wear a hard hat, safety glasses, heavy work gloves, cut-resistant legwear (chainsaw chaps), and boo...
Source: The Procedural Pause - Category: Emergency Medicine Tags: Blog Posts Source Type: blogs