Forklift related injuries

Abstract

Orthopaedic injuries caused by forklift vehicles are becoming more common. Following a series of forklift related admissions to our institution, we were prompted to study a consecutive group of 48 patients in detail with respect to mechanism of injury, pattern of injury sustained, complications and final outcome. Most of the injuries were in the lower limb, particularly involving the foot. 90% of our cases developed complications and in a majority of these cases chronic pain and swelling of the foot and ankle was the main complaint. Lisfranc's injury to the foot was the most commonly missed injury in the foot following a forklift injury. Less than half of the patients were able to return to their original job. Adequate safety precautions in the working environment and forklift driver education will help reduce the incidence of these avoidable injuries.