The following article contains extremely graphic imagery of a knife injury.
A 32-year-old woman in Dublin was rushed to Beaumont Hospital in Dublin after slicing through her hand while cutting an avocado.
The incident marks another case of a new phenomenon being labeled “Avocado hand”.
"Avocado hand" is a mechanism of the injury becoming increasingly more common and public education is paramount in trying to prevent further injuries from occurring, according to the staff at the Department of Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery at Beaumont Hospital Co. Dublin.
“The ‘avocado hand’ appears to be resulting in increased emergency and hand surgery department presentations. These patients often present with neurovascular, tendinous or bony injuries affecting their non-dominant hand. This seemingly innocuous slip of the vegetable knife can cause significant injuries, often requiring exploration under regional or general anesthetic. The public needs to be educated on the potential dangers of preparing avocados. Celebrity chef, Jamie Oliver has released a short video demonstrating a safe method to cut and de-stone an avocado by simply using a chopping board.
“Accidental self-inflicted knife injuries to digits are a common cause of tendon and nerve injury requiring hand surgery. There has been an apparent increase in avocado related hand injuries. Classically, the patients hold the avocado in their non-dominant hand while using a knife to cut/peel the fruit with their dominant hand. The mechanism of injury is usually a stabbing injury to the non-dominant hand as the knife slips past the stone, through the soft avocado fruit. Despite their apparent increased incidence, we could not find any cases in the literature which describe the ‘avocado hand’. We present a case of a 32-year-old woman who sustained a significant hand injury while preparing an avocado. She required exploration and repair of a digital nerve under regional anesthesia and has since made a full recovery.”
(Picture: Irish Medical Journal)
(Picture: Irish Medical Journal)Thankfully, in this particular case, the patient was discharged the same day. Post-operative recovery was quick with the return of full range of motion.
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