Bilateral ‘Vishnu-Chakra’ Hand – A Health Hazard

Abstract

We report the three-year-old girl was found crying with pain in the kitchen by the mother with both her Index fingers stuck in the hole at the centre of two Idli stainless steel plates/moulds. The child was very distressed, injured with cuts at the base of the index fingers and becoming bluish. At presentation, the child’s bilateral Index fingers were stuck at the centre of the circular plates, resembling the traditional picturization of the ‘Vishnu Chakra’, the spinning, disk-like weapon used in Hindu mythology. Metal cutters were borrowed from the Mechanical department of the Hospital as the cutters from the dental and orthopaedic sets were not enough to cut through the Stainless Steel plates. We report an incident of entrapment of the bilateral index fingers in Idli plates. Injuries from kitchen utensils may be due to poor baby care facilities resulting in children being left unattended to play in the kitchen while the primary caregiver- usually the mother- has to run the chores of the house. This is to familiarize every pediatrician/parent with simple hazards lurking among common household articles and therefore the need for appropriate education for accidents.