Abstract

Background
There are many accidents related to the use of farming devices or machinery in rural communities in Korea. Among them, accidents related to the use of farming tractors are relatively frequent and are accompanied by high mortality, especially in cases of abdominal injury. Materials and Methods: From among the 185 patients with cultivator-related injuries brought to the emergenay room of our hospital from January 1999 to September 2003, we reviewed 122 patients with appropriate medical records, and we made a retrograde analysis of their age, sex, mechanism of injury, hospital stay, and mortality. Results: In regard to the mechanism of injury, overturning was the most common (48 pati-ents, 39.3%), followed by handlebar injuries (30 patients, 24.6%). A comparison between the mechanisms of injury showed that head trauma were common in the overturning and fall-down, acctdents but chest and abdominal trauma were common in handlebar injuries. The incidence of receiving some kind of surgery and the mortality rate after cultivator-related accidents were higher in handlebar injuries (13/5 patients, 43.3%/16.7%) than in the overturning (13/2 patients, 27.1%/4.2%) or fall-down (4/2 patients, 17.4%/8.7%) injuries. Conclusion: Handlebar injuries are a significant cause of both blunt abdominal trauma and chest trauma. Safer handlebar designs may provide a health and economic benefit. Manufacturers of cultivators should be aware of these facts and should adjust the designs of the handlebars accordingly.

• Keywords: Cultivator accidents, Chest and abdominal trauma, Handlebar injuries