Fodder cutter (Tokka) injuries; a preventable morbidity

Abstract

Abstract
 Pakistan is an agricultural country where fodder cutter (Tokka) is a commonly used machine on the farms. While using it, farmers often meet with accidents causing injuries which are disastrous, and mainly involve the young generation often causing lifelong disability.
 This is a hospital-based case series, conducted from June 2018 to January 2019 in the Department of Surgery, Lahore General Hospital, Lahore. For this study the patient’s demographic data, site of injury, procedure performed and post-operative outcome were recorded.
 The study includes a total of 30 cases of tokka injury, (23 males and 07 females) with median age of 25 years. Most commonly injured part of the body was the upper limb, in 26 patients, while the lower limb was involved in 2 patients. There were 18 amputations, Continuous...

Hand injuries in Kenya: a chaff cutter menace

“…The findings from our study showed that male persons aged between 21 and 40 years were the commonest group of workers likely to sustain chaff cutter injuries involving the hand. In a study from Pakistan including 30 cases of tokka (chaff cutter) injuries, the male-to-female ratio of the victims was 3:1 ( Ali et al, 2021 ). In contrast, in another retrospective study from Pakistan, Naseer et al (2016) found that male persons were affected in only 43.8% of the cases.…”

“…The use of farm machinery such as hay bailers and chaff cutters has been implicated as the commonest cause of hand injury ( Naseer et al , 2016 ) Chaff cutters are used in chopping of fodder in dairy farming. Whereas the traditional chaff cutters were manually operated and safe, current cutters in use are power driven and more unsafe ( Naseer et al , 2016 ; Ali et al, 2021 ). Increasing mechanization predisposes workers to high risks for injuries, often with devastating outcomes ( Angoules et al , 2007 ).…”

“…Moreover, hand injuries resulting from chaff cutters are more likely to involve the dominant hand thereby affecting the capabilities of the affected in participating in gainful activities and in integrating in the society ( Naseer et al , 2016 ; Wairegi, 2019 ). This leads to social and economic losses until the individuals are fit to return to pre-injury activities ( Ali et al, 2021 ). The return to gainful activities and social incorporation after injury is influenced by demographic, clinical and economic factors ( He et al, 2010 ).…”