AX INJURIES OF THE HAND

Objective: To review a series of ax injuries of the hand, Design: Retr ospective epidemiological review of 125 cases, Materials: Assessment f rom the notes of all injuries, with more detailed follow-up of 26 case s, Measurements: Levels of injury, surgery required, complications, re sults, patient satisfaction, methods of prevention, Conclusions: Ax in juries are rare, They usually affect the thumb and index finger of the nondominant hand, As with all hand injuries, expertise in dealing wit h bone, tendon, nerve, and skin cover is essential, Even ''minor'' inj uries mag give rise to considerable morbidity, Our complication rate i n replantation was 50%, Care should be taken here not to compromise th e result by attempting to maintain the length of the bony skeleton, Th e long-term results (at 11 months to 12 years) were generally satisfac tory, but cold intolerance may persist for many years, As with all acc idents, prevention would be better than cure, Neither we nor the patie nts could think of ang way of significantly reducing the incidence of these accidents, However, holding the ax by the neck seemed a common w ay of sustaining injury.