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Snowblower injuries to the hand: epidemiology, patterns of injury, and strategies for prevention.

Publication ,  Journal Article
Master, D; Piorkowski, J; Zani, S; Babigian, A
Published in: Ann Plast Surg
December 2008

Snowblowers injure approximately 5000 people a year and can cause devastating hand injuries. Even with added safety measures and warnings on modern snowblowers, hand injuries are still occurring at an alarming rate. We have reviewed our series of snowblower-related hand injuries to elucidate the epidemiology, patterns of injury, and strategies for prevention.Questionnaires and treatment records of 22 individuals with snowblower injuries to the hand between 2002 and 2005 were reviewed. All patients were treated by a single hand surgeon at Hartford Hospital in Hartford, CT.Eleven of the 22 held upper level educational degrees. Averaged results include operator experience of 15.17 years, machine age of 21.38 years, temperature of 29.05 degrees F (-1.51 degrees C), precipitation of 8.60 cm (3.38 in), and duration of use of 20.59 minutes excluding 3 outliers. Three patients consumed 1 alcoholic drink and 1 consumed 2 alcoholic drinks before injury. The majority of patients were aware of safety warnings (77.20%) and injured themselves with the machine running (82.35%) resulting in multiple digit injury (2.0 on average) on the dominant hand (68.18%).Operator inexperience, low operator intelligence, and excessive alcohol consumption do not seem to contribute to injury. Instead, significant experience, older machines, short durations of use before injury, characteristic weather patterns, and underlying misperceptions about snowblower design and function typically set the stage for injury. Injuries may be prevented in the future by improving snowblower design and/or by making brief public service announcements.

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Published In

Ann Plast Surg

DOI

EISSN

1536-3708

Publication Date

December 2008

Volume

61

Issue

6

Start / End Page

613 / 617

Location

United States

Related Subject Headings

  • Young Adult
  • Weather
  • Surgery
  • Snow
  • Middle Aged
  • Male
  • Humans
  • Hand Injuries
  • Finger Injuries
  • Child
 

Citation

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Master, D., Piorkowski, J., Zani, S., & Babigian, A. (2008). Snowblower injuries to the hand: epidemiology, patterns of injury, and strategies for prevention. Ann Plast Surg, 61(6), 613–617. https://doi.org/10.1097/SAP.0b013e318166dafe
Master, Daniel, James Piorkowski, Sabino Zani, and Alan Babigian. “Snowblower injuries to the hand: epidemiology, patterns of injury, and strategies for prevention.Ann Plast Surg 61, no. 6 (December 2008): 613–17. https://doi.org/10.1097/SAP.0b013e318166dafe.
Master D, Piorkowski J, Zani S, Babigian A. Snowblower injuries to the hand: epidemiology, patterns of injury, and strategies for prevention. Ann Plast Surg. 2008 Dec;61(6):613–7.
Master, Daniel, et al. “Snowblower injuries to the hand: epidemiology, patterns of injury, and strategies for prevention.Ann Plast Surg, vol. 61, no. 6, Dec. 2008, pp. 613–17. Pubmed, doi:10.1097/SAP.0b013e318166dafe.
Master D, Piorkowski J, Zani S, Babigian A. Snowblower injuries to the hand: epidemiology, patterns of injury, and strategies for prevention. Ann Plast Surg. 2008 Dec;61(6):613–617.

Published In

Ann Plast Surg

DOI

EISSN

1536-3708

Publication Date

December 2008

Volume

61

Issue

6

Start / End Page

613 / 617

Location

United States

Related Subject Headings

  • Young Adult
  • Weather
  • Surgery
  • Snow
  • Middle Aged
  • Male
  • Humans
  • Hand Injuries
  • Finger Injuries
  • Child