February 03, 2004

By: Arnold Cook
Website: http://www.1st-in-kitchens.com

Discourage Use of Kitchen Knives to Carve the Jack O’ Lantern

Pumpkin carving can cause serious hand injuries. Pumpkin carvers may reduce the risk of injury by using specially designed carving tools, rather than kitchen knives, according to a study conducted at SUNY Upstate Medical University by members of the Orthopaedic Research Society and the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons.

Each fall, orthopaedic surgeons see injuries from pumpkin-carving accidents. These injuries may include lacerations, or cuts, of the skin, tendons, nerves or arteries. Two of the inexpensive knives sold specifically for pumpkin carving were tested against a plain and a serrated kitchen knife to determine whether pumpkin-carving knives might reduce the frequency and/or severity of injuries incurred while carving pumpkins.

Even with the best repairs, said principal investigator and orthopaedic hand surgeon Alexander Marcus, MD, of Edison, NJ, pumpkin carving-related hand injuries can be devastating. Pumpkins should only be carved with tools that will cause the least amount of injury, although even these may be harmful, Marcus added.

Results of the study indicated that the force needed to push either type of kitchen knife into a pumpkin was statistically greater than with either pumpkin carver. While tendon, nerve and arterial injuries occurred with both kitchen and pumpkin knives, examination of cadaver fingers tested with each knife revealed that the kitchen knives caused more tendon lacerations and more severe skin lacerations that would require stitches. Also important, neither of the pumpkin knives caused puncture wounds at the force required to puncture a pumpkin, but both the plain and serrated kitchen knives consistently caused deep puncture wounds at forces less than the force determined necessary for puncturing a pumpkin.

About The Author:

Arnold Cook is a successful author and regular contributor to http://www.1st-in-kitchens.com.  Everything for your kitchen to make it look great and make cooking a whole lot easier.