On June 30th at noon in Istanbul, a 1-year-old child allegedly got one of his fingers caught in the fan while playing with the fan used in their home due to the heat. After the cut on his finger, the family immediately brought the little boy to the emergency room of Başakşehir Çam and Sakura City Hospital. Afterwards, the hand surgery team examined the baby’s condition and determined that the bone in his finger was broken and almost completely cut off, and the little boy was quickly taken into surgery.
Başakşehir Çam and Sakura City Hospital Hand Surgery Department Education and Administrative Officer Assoc. Prof. Dr. Egemen Ayhan and his team successfully completed the approximately 2-hour operation, the cut part of the baby’s finger was stitched. Assoc. Prof. Dr. Egemen Ayhan, who said that they have been receiving more applications for this issue recently, warned against accidents that may occur due to frequent use of fans in the summer months. Assoc. Prof. Dr. Ayhan provided information on what to do after accidents and made recommendations to families.
“WE HAVE HAD 4-5 PATIENTS IN THE LAST MONTH”
Assoc. Prof. Dr. Egemen Ayhan, Head of Hand Surgery Department at Başakşehir Çam and Sakura City Hospital, who said that children at a young age are curious about their surroundings and therefore families should be careful against accidents, said, “We have encountered this issue frequently, especially during the summer months. Fans are used frequently due to the warming weather. We encounter children who put their fingers between the fans. During this period, we have encountered 4-5 patients in the last month, which means 1-2 patients every week. These are under the age of 4-5, especially around the age of 1-2, of course they are very curious, they try to notice their surroundings. Fans are also in places where they can easily reach, there is something constantly spinning, I feel like I should touch it.
Due to the curiosity of children, we often encounter such an injury type these days. First of all, it should be put in places where children cannot reach. It can be said to children over a certain age that this is dangerous, children perceive it better than we expect, it is necessary to explain that it is not to be approached, it is not to be touched, and to convince them. So, such an injury occurred, this has come across us, what do we do; first of all, we should not panic, I know it is very difficult for parents. First, it is necessary to cut off contact, if the child’s hand is still there, unplug the fan, and if it has come out, keep it away from the fan. It may be completely severed, it may not be severed, it may be about to be partially severed.
If it is completely severed, the part that we call amputation should be found in accordance with the procedure for carrying the severed part, after cleaning it slightly and washing it roughly with water, it can be gauze, it should be wrapped in something clean, then put it in a bag, put ice outside the bag and put it in a separate bag again and carry the part in this way. Without showing your hand to the child too much, keeping the child away from it, without increasing anxiety and panic, trying to act a little calm, wash it with water or without washing it at all, immediately wrap it up and protect it and bring it to the emergency room as soon as possible. Anxiety and panic should be avoided, things that will scare and frighten the child even more,” he said.
“WE OBSERVE EXTREMITY INJURIES MORE FREQUENTLY IN SUMMER”
Speaking about the condition of a 1-year-old patient who had his finger caught in a propeller and who they operated on, Assoc. Prof. Dr. Ayhan said, “It was not severed but only the skin was holding it from underneath, a microsurgical procedure was performed there to repair the veins, we perform bone fixation and tendon repair. There are many tissues at the tip of the finger, bone, tendon, nerve, vein, skin and subcutaneous tissue. Therefore, each tissue needs to be repaired in accordance with the procedure.
In children, our chances are higher in this sense. If the appropriate intervention is made, it is possible for the part to survive. There is no such thing as a 100% success in these matters because it is not always possible depending on the type of injury. Our patient’s finger was roughly bandaged, we need to look at the dressing without hurting the child too much, and we took him to the operating room as soon as possible. We took him to surgery as soon as possible. The surgery lasted about 2 hours, we discharged him the next day because we saw that his circulation was good.
In this regard, sometimes we have patients that we keep longer. This can vary from 5 days to 1 week or 10 days. In case of an accident, it is necessary to cover the point by squeezing it too much, but not to the point that will damage other tissues. It is necessary to wrap the area and reduce blood loss. Motor vehicle accidents are also increasing, speed can also increase, various motorcycle accidents are frequent, electric scooter use is also increasing, accidents are also frequent in them. Frankly, we should not speed here just because the weather is nice. We should say that we observe accidents and extremity injuries more frequently in the summer in terms of orthopedic and hand surgery,” he said. (İHA)
