Citation

Gearing PF, Goldie S, Barton R, Ramakrishnan A. ANZ J. Surg. 2022; ePub(ePub): ePub.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2022, Royal Australasian College of Surgeons, Publisher John Wiley and Sons)

DOI

10.1111/ans.17959

PMID

35920700

Abstract

Injuries to the upper extremity secondary to meat grinder misuse have been reported in literature as early as 1949.1 Commonly, the affected limb can be self-extricated with a variable degree of injury to the fingers and hand.2 Rarely, the hand is firmly trapped within the meat grinder, which arrives intact with the patient to the hospital emergency department (Figs. 1a and 2a). Case reports describe the extrication of affected limbs by reversing the 'worm' mechanism within the grinder,2, 3 by turning the handle or shank counter-clockwise with an appropriate tool (e.g., adjustable wrench).4, 5 Often this is not possible due to the degree of insertion of the limb into the grinder mechanism. To the authors' knowledge this is the first case series describing an alternative approach to limb extrication from meat grinders where counter-rotation is ineffective.

Language: en