High-pressure injection injury of the hand: an often underestimated trauma: case report with study of the literature

The real extent of damage in high-pressure injection injuries (grease gun injuries, paint gun injuries, pressure gun in juries) is hidden behind a small and frequently painless punctiform skin lesion on the finger or the hand. These kinds of injuries require prompt surgical intervention with surgical debridement of all ischemic tissue. Possibility of a general intoxication by the fluid must always be ruled out. Postoperative intensive physiotherapy is essential for the final hand function. The initial benign aspect is frequently causing a delay for an adequate treatment while in the mean time the possibility for subcutaneous damage continuously increases. Because of this delay the chance of permanent reduced functionality in the hand or finger amputation raises. Not only the latency time to adequate treatment but also the injected fluid’s nature, the pressure, the volume and the location of injection, has influence on the seriousness and extensiveness of subcutaneous damage. All these factors influence the functional outcome of the patient.