Left-hand dominance and hand trauma

Abstract

To investigate the relationship between hand dominance and the risk of major hand injury, the case records of 125 patients who had been treated for digital amputation were retrospectively reviewed. A second group of 116 patients treated for minor hand trauma was similarly evaluated. The incidence of left-hand dominance among the digital amputation group was 35%, and among the minor trauma group the incidence was 11%. The left-handed were more likely to have an amputating injury of their dominant hand than were the right-handed (70% compared with 51%, respectively). The most common mechanism of amputating injury was by power saw. The present data suggest that left-handed individuals have a relative risk of sustaining an amputating injury that is 4.9 times greater than the right-handed individuals, while minor hand trauma occurs at rates proportional to the distribution of left handedness within the population. Additional safety measures and the redesigning of tools, assembly lines, and workstations are recommended to help decrease the incidence of serious hand injury among left-handed individuals.