Warning: This may be as dangerous as firearm injuries;"grease-gun injury": A case report

Abstract

High-pressure injection gun (Grease-gun) injuries mainly occur with industrial labourers. Injuries associated with high pressure grease guns are very rare and frequently involve the hand and chest. The non-dominant hand is generally injured since the grease gun is usually held in the dominant hand. Even if high-pressure injection injury causes only a small lesion in the skin, it is still characterized by severe damage to subcutaneous tissue. Since initial presentation may be deceptive, treatment is frequently delayed. The characteristics of the material injected need to be known as a priority, and systemic intoxication must be ruled out. The risk of amputation is 16-55%. With solvents it goes up to 50-80%. Surgical treatment must be performed immediately, under general anesthesia or plexus block. Foreign material and necrotic tissue must be early debrided with wide microsurgical exploration. Positive outcomes in reacquisition of hand functions can be obtained with long-term and early physiotherapy.