Doctors observe rise in hand injuries in Mangaluru

MANGALURU: Doctors in the city have observed that injuries to the fingertips due to using mixer grinders, that are encountered predominantly by homemakers, are on the rise. Dr Gaurav B Shetty, plastic and reconstructive surgeon, KMC Hospital, told TOI: “In most homes, there is so much stress in the kitchen in the morning, that women end up multitasking, which leads to mishaps.
The injuries sustained are often serious, as they are invariably multiple-level. These injuries get nasty with the forcible entry of food particles present in the mixer grinder. We get more than four cases a month.”
Dr Shetty said that treating hand injuries mandates sub-specialised training in executing such procedures, to restore form and function. “Many such hand injury cases, including injuries caused in factories, due to crackers, and sugarcane crushing machines, that were nil during the lockdown, are on the rise again,” he said. The use of thermite composition crackers, that are burst during weddings and temple festivals, apart from Diwali, is on the rise. “In two months, two cases of injuries due to bursting crackers, from Kadaba and Panja, were reported by the Puttur City Hospital. A 45-year-old man from Kadaba underwent six surgeries in two months, after an explosion during a temple function. A man from Panja sustained injuries in a cracker explosion, during a wedding function. His palm got divided in two, and he is currently recuperating. This is dangerous, as people can get hurt in the eyes, eardrums, and hollow organs in the chest and abdomen,” he said.
Dr Shetty said that injuries sustained in factories are a major area of concern, and most often occur despite wearing protective gear. “The biggest challenge in these mangled extremities, with or without amputation, is that the victims are often rushed to a local hospital, but their factory colleagues do not wrap the dismembered portion in the right way, which is crucial for restoration by revascularisation or replantation. The factory workers need to be educated on this aspect,” he said.
Common hand injuries, include finger injuries, and amputations due to cleaning a bike chain with the engine running, and sickle or chop injuries in the rural belt, especially among those climbing coconut trees. Dr Gaurav B Shetty from KMC Hospital and Dr Karthik Aithal, from Srinivas Institute Of Medical Sciences And Research Centre, have launched EXIGENCY-Trauma Plastic and Emergency Reconstructive Services, through which the medical expenses on several occasions have been crowdfunded.