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Journal of Plastic, Reconstructive & Aesthetic Surgery (2010) 63, e201
CORRESPONDENCE AND COMMUNICATION
A novel application of the MAGNA-FINDER� external locating devicein hand trauma
Figure 1
Hand injuries represent a significant emergency workloadfor most Plastic Surgery Units. Tendon and nerve injuriesmay result in permanent loss of function and, at the veryleast, result in a delayed return to work and possible loss ofearnings in the adult population. Children, though betterequipped to overcome and adapt to such injuries, are stillas prone to wound infections through traumatic, contami-nated wounds as their adult counterparts. With this in mindI would like to describe a simple magnetic adjunct tonormal wound debridement after metal induced trauma tothe hand.
A 15-year-old engineering student sustained lacerationsto both thenar eminences whilst trying to secure a lippedsteel disc whilst a fellow student drilled its centre. As thedrill engaged in the disc it spun creating arced lacerationson the palms, most marked on the dominant left side,which were heavily contaminated with filings and chafffrom the drill. Although relatively inert in this case thepresence of large amounts of foreign material in any woundis not desirable and attempts at radical debridement indelicate areas like the hand can result in further iatrogenicinjury. In this instance a MAGNA-FINDER� external locatingdevice was dismantled to attract the deeper debris(Figure 1) whilst more superficially routine debridementwas performed. The magnet, designed to localise theMAGNA-SITE� port in breast reconstruction, was sufficientlypowerful to retrieve even some of the metal embedded inmuscle.
The MAGNA-FINDER� device is in common use in hospi-tals undertaking breast reconstruction with spare devicesoften being kept in outpatient departments for patients
1748-6815/$-seefrontmatterª2009BritishAssociationofPlastic,Reconstrucdoi:10.1016/j.bjps.2009.05.034
undergoing serial expansion. It is provided in sterile pack-aging and can be cleaned and autoclaved for re-use.Unfortunately, the magnetic application of the MAGNA-FINDER� is limited to Iron, Cobalt and Nickel (and theiralloys) related injuries and care should be taken not toleave the MAGNA-FINDER� in proximity to microsurgicalinstruments if required for subsequent reconstruction.
Conflict of interest
None.
Sam NortonDepartment of Plastic Surgery,
Norfolk & Norwich University Hospital, Norwich, UKE-mail address: [email protected]
tiveandAestheticSurgeons.PublishedbyElsevierLtd.All rightsreserved.
