Study Reveals That More Than Half of Reported Cases of Lawn Mower-Related Injuries Requires Amputation

Despite the warnings that come with every lawn mower purchase, children in the United States still suffer severe lawn mower-related injuries. It was also revealed during the 2016 Annual Meeting of the American Academy of Orthopedic Surgeons (AAOS) that 53 percent of the total number of reported cases required amputation.

Researchers analyzed the data from the Pennsylvania Trauma Outcome Study which consist of 199 children between the ages 0 to 17 with an average age of 8, who were hospitalized for lawn mower-related injuries between 2002 and 2013.

According to medicalxpress.com, findings revealed that 81 percent of the cases involved boys, and 55 percent of the incidents were a result of riding a lawn mower. It was also discovered that 91 percent of the cases happened between April and September and the most common injured site is the lower extremity which accounted for 65 percent. Among the 199 children who were admitted in different trauma centers, 106 had to undergo amputation of the affected area.

US News reported that Dr. Douglas Armstrong, the senior study author and a professor of orthopedic surgery and division head of pediatric orthopedics at Penn State Hershey Medical Center in Hershey, Pennsylvania, warned people how dangerous lawn mowers are. "All lawn mowers have a tremendous amount of kinetic energy given off at the tip of the lawn mower blade. It's higher than a bullet leaving the muzzle of a 357 Magnum, which means that the injuries we see are not just lacerations, they're the result of something more like an explosion or blast injury," he explained.

The study also revealed that one child aged 1 was killed due to an incident involving ride-on lawn mower. "The vast majority of the injuries could have been prevented if safety guidelines had been followed," Armstrong said.

An advisory was issued by the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) recommending that no child below the age of 16 should be allowed to operate a ride-on mower while powered or non-powered push mower should only be operated by children ages 12 and up. The advisory warned parents living on farmlands or in the suburbs to ensure that no child under the age of 6 are outdoors when mower is in operation. Kids shouldn't also be allowed to become passengers of mowers operated by adults.