Pediatric Treadmill Burns: Assessing the effectiveness of prevention strategies

Goltsman, David; Li, Zhe; Connolly, Siobhan; Meyerowitz-Katz, Daniel; Allan, James; Maitz, Peter

doi:10.1016/j.burns.2016.02.007

Cited by 7 publications

(3 citation statements)

References 14 publications

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“…2,3 An epidemiological study in Australia found that children aged 0 to 4 years were the most likely to sustain treadmill friction injury. 4 The increased incidence of treadmill friction injuries in young children may be due to a slower withdrawal reflex and a thinner volar epidermis when compared to adults. 5 Treadmill hand injuries are usually friction burns caused by the fast rotation of the treadmill belt.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Outcomes of Early Surgical vs Nonsurgical Management of Pediatric Hand Friction Injuries Caused by Treadmills

Ridelman

Abbas

Angst

et al. 2021

Journal of Burn Care &Amp; Research

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Introduction Pediatric hand friction injuries caused by running treadmills are ever more prevalent due to the increasing presence of home exercise equipment. These and other related injuries have received recent attention in the media, leading to mass product recalls in some cases. These friction injuries are similar to deep thermal burns and these patients are usually cared for in the pediatric burn unit at our institution. We sought to describe our recent experience managing 22 patients with these injuries. Methods Patients were queried from our urban pediatric burn center database. After IRB approval, a retrospective chart review of all patients admitted for a treadmill-related hand injury over a 5-year period was performed. Data collected included patient demographics, initial treatment methods (surgical vs. non-operative), type of dressing used, hospital length of stay (LOS), and compliance with follow-up. We collected patient-centered outcomes included the time to healing and the need for subsequent surgical and/or non-surgical interventions to treat the sequelae of these injuries. Results Our center treated 22 hand friction injuries caused by treadmills over the 5-year period. Five patients (23%) underwent early surgical intervention (<30 days from injury), with a median time from injury of 7 days (IQR 1.75-13.5). This cohort required additional interventions to treat postoperative sequelae with 2 (40%) requiring additional surgery and 3 (60%) managed non-surgically. Of the 17 (77%) who were initially treatednon-operatively , 5 (29%) healed completely with dressing changes only and required no further treatment. Eleven (65%) had injury-related sequelae and were managed successfully with non-surgical interventions. Only 1 patient (6%) required scar modification by z-plasty. Average LOS was 14 hours and median number of weekly follow-up visits was 4 until complete healing. Conclusion Given the excellent outcomes observed in patients treated without acute surgical intervention in this case series, non-operative non-operative management appears to be feasible, safe and may reduce the need for operative intervention. These injuries, although small, are deep and require a prolonged period of dressing changes and aggressive therapy including post-healing time commitment to scar management in order to achieve best outcomes. Our study supports the need for increased community awareness of this type of injury.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Outcomes of Early Surgical vs Nonsurgical Management of Pediatric Hand Friction Injuries Caused by Treadmills

Ridelman

Abbas

Angst

et al. 2021

Journal of Burn Care &Amp; Research

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“…As more people exercise at home with fitness equipment, there have been more reports of treadmill-related burn injuries in children [2]. Most are deep partial-thickness or full-thickness burns, requiring a surgical approach such as debridement or skin grafting [3].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

A Next-Generation Friction Burn Caused by a Cordless Vacuum Cleaner

Wee

Park

2020

J Wound Manag Res

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Consumers today are increasingly using a new type of vacuum cleaner with a soft roller head. Among injuries from the use of household appliances, vacuum cleaner-related friction burns tend to be underestimated in their severity, compared to treadmill-related friction burns, which have been explored more extensively in literature. We present the case of a 17-month-old child with a whitish eschar on the volar side of her right fourth toe, which had been sucked into the rotating soft roller head of one of the new cordless vacuum cleaners. Initially, the wound resembled a simple abrasion, but it was whitish enough for us to suspect a full-thickness burn. We performed gauze rubbing for granulation with a biologic dressing material and basic fibroblast growth factor. The burn took more than 3 weeks to heal completely. It is essential to reappraise the severity of friction burns caused by the more recent vacuum cleaner models with powered rollers and to establish appropriate treatment protocols.

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“…Pediatric upper limb friction burns caused by a treadmill have been mostly reported in developed countries, for example USA 1 and Australia, 2 and they are relatively rare in developing countries, but their incidence has been increasing every year. Treadmill hand friction burns are more severe than contact burns in terms of the depth of injury.…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

Early Wound Repair Versus Later Scar Repair in Children with Treadmill Hand Friction Burns

Zhou

Qiu

Xiao

et al. 2021

Journal of Burn Care &Amp; Research

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The incidence of pediatric treadmill hand friction burns has been increasing every year. The injuries are deeper than thermal hand burns, the optimal treatment remains unclear. This was a retrospective study of children who received surgery for treadmill hand friction burns from January 1, 2015, to December 31, 2019, in a single burn center. A total of 22 children were surveyed. The patients were naturally divided into two groups: the wound repair group (13 patients), which was admitted early to the hospital after injury and received debridement and vacuum sealing drainage initially, and a full-thickness skin graft later; and the scar repair group (9 patients), in which a scar contracture developed as a result of wound healing and received scar release and skin grafting later. The Modified Michigan Hand Questionnaire score in the wound repair group was 116.31 ± 10.55, and the corresponding score in the scar repair group was 117.56 ± 8.85 (P>0.05), no statistically significant difference. The Vancouver Scar Scale score in the wound repair group was 4.15 ± 1.21, and the corresponding score in the scar repair group was 7.22 ± 1.09 (P<0.05). Parents were satisfied with the postoperative appearance and function of the hand. None in the two groups required secondary surgery. If the burns are deep second degree, third degree, or infected, early debridement, vacuum sealing drainage initially, and a full-thickness skin graft can obviously relieve pediatric pain, shorten the course of the disease, and restore the function of the hand as soon as possible.

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Pediatric Treadmill Burns: Assessing the effectiveness of prevention strategies

Cited by 7 publications

References 14 publications

Outcomes of Early Surgical vs Nonsurgical Management of Pediatric Hand Friction Injuries Caused by Treadmills

Outcomes of Early Surgical vs Nonsurgical Management of Pediatric Hand Friction Injuries Caused by Treadmills

A Next-Generation Friction Burn Caused by a Cordless Vacuum Cleaner

Early Wound Repair Versus Later Scar Repair in Children with Treadmill Hand Friction Burns

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