The purpose of the study was to describe the outcome after hand injury from powered wood splitters, and to investigate the relation between injury severity and outcome. Injury severity was rated according to the Hand Injury Severity Scoring System (HISS system) and the Injury Severity Score method. The patients were evaluated with the Disabilities of the Arm Shoulder and Hand outcome questionnaire (DASH), and 26 of the most severely injured patients were evaluated with the Sollerman test. The mean DASH score was moderately elevated at 15, indicating that many of these patients have sequelae. A statistically significant correlation between HISS and DASH scores was found, implying that initial injury severity is of importance for outcome. The mean Sollerman score in the injured hand was 66, which amounts to a significantly impaired hand function.
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