How to cite this article; Muhammad Saaiq, Hameed-Ud-Din.
Occupational hand
trauma: Can we do something to reduce the sufferings of our poor workers? Ann Pak
Inst Med Sci 2007; 3(4): 204-5.
Occupational Hand Trauma: Can we
do Something to Reduce the Sufferings
of our Poor Workers ?
The hand is a highly perfect and intricate tool
with which man has been endowed by his creator. It
receives information from the outside world and then the
individual acts upon it. It also translates human intellect
into meaningful communications in the form writings and
fine skilled voluntary movements involved in a variety of
professions. Indeed following brain, hand is the second
most frequently used organ of human body. Owing to its
function it is vulnerable to various traumatic insults.
Unfortunately the incidence of occupational
hand injuries is disconcertingly high in our set up owing
to the recognized limitations of our workplace
environments. Contrary to this, hand injuries account for
no more than 10% of all emergency department
presentations in the developed countries.1,2
The spectrum of occupational hand trauma
ranges from minor cuts and abrasions to more
devastating injuries such as traumatic amputation of the
fingers or hand. The magnitude of injury depends upon
the mechanism of injury, circumstances under which the
injury ensued, availability of on-scene medical care,
accessibility to specialist care. Adequate professional
training on part of the sufferer helps to reduce the
severity of injury. The injury may involve bones or soft
tissues or both. 3, 4
The outcome of occupational hand trauma
depends not only on the severity of injury but also on the
adequacy of timely instituted treatment. The outcome
is generally good, however some patients have
prolonged periods of reduced functionality and disability
with significant socioeconomic implications. A plastic
surgeon would focus on the following priorities:
preserving viability by restoring circulation, obtaining
good soft tissue coverage, alignment and stabilization of
skeleton, restoration of nerve function, mobilization of
joints and restoration of tendon function. Close co-
ordination between the surgeon and hand therapist is
Ann. Pak. Inst. Med. Sci. 2007; 3(4): 204-5.
Editorial
Muhammad Saaiq*
Hameed-ud-Din**
*Trainee registrar,
**Assistant Professor and Head,
Department of Plastic Surgery,
PIMS, Islamabad
Address for Correspondence:
muhammadsaaiq5@gmail.com
essential for good rehabilitation of these patients. 4, 5
Certain key interventions are required to
address this largely preventable issue. We would make
the following recommendations in this regard:
All doctors, public health authorities,
governmental and non-governmental organizations
should make collaborative efforts to address this
challenging issue of grave implications.
At national level, a hand injury prevention
programme should be launched. It should ensure active
participation of the community as well as health care
providers. It should aim at motivating the various
stakeholders, creating public awareness and imparting
education on injury prevention strategies.
Media should play its due role in creating public
awareness about the significant consequences of this
preventable problem. It should launch awareness
programmes in local languages to help the poor and
uneducated manual workers and labourers.
For all industrial, agricultural, electrical and
other manual workers well planned codes and
occupational safety protocols should be developed to
prevent hand trauma at workplaces. Adequate training
of all labourers and manual workers should be made
mandatory on the employers.
Legislators and parliamentarians should play
their role by formulating laws to ensure that the various
industries and commercial organizations employ only
trained staff and fulfill their responsibility of strictly
adhering to the occupational safety protocols.
Those who sustain occupational hand
injuries should receive adequate specialized hand care.
Plastic surgeons with interest in the area of hand should
play their role in this regard. Their dedicated services
can help reduce the miseries of these patients.
Rehabilitation of the hand trauma victims
continues to be a largely neglected area in our set up.
The subject should be included in the curriculum of both
1
How to cite this article; Muhammad Saaiq, Hameed-Ud-Din. Occupational hand
trauma: Can we do something to reduce the sufferings of our poor workers? Ann Pak
Inst Med Sci 2007; 3(4): 204-5.
undergraduate and postgraduate studies and incentives 2. Khan AZ, Khan IZ, Khan A, Akhter J, Choudhry AM. Audit of
should be offered to those who own it as a career. occupational hand trauma presenting in the Accident and emergency
Efforts should also be made to establish proper departments of two major hospitals. Ann King Edward Med Coll
1998;4:14-6.
Rehabilitation centres for hand trauma victims.
3. Campbell DA. Hand fractures. Surgery International 2006; 75 : 437-
References: 40.
4. Jones NW, Laing H. Acute injuries to the flexor and extensor tendons
1. Lese AB. Hand Injury, Soft Tissue (Serial online) 2006 August of the hand. Surgery International 2006; 75 : 441-5.
(Cited 2008 Jan 03 ): (4 screens) . Available from : URL : 5. Tymchak J. Soft tissue reconstruction of the hand. In: Thorne CH,
http://www.emedicine.com/emerg/topic225.htm Beasley RW, Aston SJ, Bartlett SP, Gurtner GC, Spear SL, editors.
Grabb and Smith’s Plastic surgery. 6th ed. Philadelphia: Lippincott
Williams and Wilkins; 2007: 771-80.

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