Circular saw accidents double number of severed fingers among DIY enthusiasts
Summer is a hectic time for surgeons
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Summer rains do have their supporters. One such group is the hand surgeons of the Tampere University Hospital. They know that a rainy day usually translates to easier times at the office.
"We joke that whenever there is a sunny day it usually spells more circular saw accidents", acting chief surgeon Niina Ruopsa says.
During the summer months, the Finns use the circular saw, log chopping machines, the trusty axe, and the sheath-knife with such zeal that the number of hand-surgical emergency operations doubles in Tampere. Around 60 such operations are performed each month.
, In addition to Helsinki, Tampere is the only other Finnish city with a round-the-clock emergency service available for these kinds of mishaps. Tampere also has the potential for microsurgery required in operations such as reattachments of limbs. Patients are often brought in from as far away as Lapland.
Reattachments and restoration of circulation to the extremities are on the rise. In the whole of last year 50 such procedures were performed in Tampere. This year’s corresponding number has already reached 30, Ruopsa notes.
The most common trauma is a dismemberment of a finger in a circular saw accident. Alcohol often plays a role in the summer’s little accidents, when people chop wood or perform "simple" DIY tasks after a few drinks. The emergency unit also sees patients whose hand injuries have been caused by punching something while under the influence.
Among work-related accidents, the so-called "mangle injuries" are most common. In such traumas a person’s hand has been crushed by some sort of compression device.
Most of the patients were born in the 1940s and 1950s. However, more and more accidents seem to be happening happen to the elderly and to women.
"The elderly are fitter than before, and they have time and energy for manual work, for instance chopping logs."
With the elderly, alcohol normally does not play a role in the accidents. Due to the improved fitness level of the older generation, their nerves grow back and injuries heal just like with the younger patients.
"Previously the policy was that if the patient is over 60 years of age, there is little point in our trying to reattach a detached member. Today this is not the case. On the other hand, the target level of post-op functioning is slightly lower than with the working age people, whose hand ideally should become fully operational. With the elderly, getting on with everyday chores is sufficient."
At Helsinki’s Töölö Hospital hand-surgical operations are performed at a steady pace, around a hundred per month. The operating theatre is always full, chief surgeon Timo Raatikainen explains.
The peak season in the capital area is a bit earlier - in the spring. When the piles of firewood reappear from under the winter covering of snow, "people crawl out of their nests with axes in their hands". In the early summer, stumbling around in the nature is a common cause of accident. This is comparable with the broken bones caused by falling on the slippery and icy streets in the winter.
It is always advisable to move fast if a finger or other body part is partially or totally cut off.
Often people may not realise how deep the wound caused by a sheath-knife really is. Only after a couple days they may notice that the finger is numb or does not bend.
A damaged tendon can be repaired even after a couple of weeks, and a severed nerve can be reattached even after three weeks, but the faster the patient seeks treatment, the easier the process, Raatikainen points out.
Helsingin Sanomat
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| 7.8.2007 - TODAY |
 Circular saw accidents double number of severed fingers among DIY enthusiasts |
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