Vascular responses in chain saw operators.

Vascular responses in chain saw operators.

The intensive use of chain saws is associated with development of the hand-arm vibration syndrome (vibration white finger). Objective testing for cold induced vasospasm was carried out on the fingers of 12 chain saw operators and 12 matched control men from a similar working environment. Two of the chain saw operators tested positive for vasospasm in the laboratory and another three had an abno...

Cold response of digital arteries in chain saw operators.

Determination of the distribution of nerve conduction velocities in chain saw operators.

By measuring the distribution of conduction velocities (DCV) in sensory fibres of the median nerve, the effects of local vibration on all faster and slower large myelinated nerve fibres were examined in 10 male chain saw operators (three operators had frequent attacks of white finger; the attacks were only occasional in four and negative in three). All parameters of DCV, and conventional sensor...

Follow up study of vibration induced white finger in chain saw operators.

The current status of subjects with vibration induced white finger (VWF) was observed in order to follow up the natural course of VWF after the use of chain saws had ceased. The prevalence rate of VWF after the use of chain saws had ceased in all time periods fell to 50.2% after more than 12 years' observation. There was a pronounced tendency for the percentage prevalence to rise as the vibrati...

Improvement of chain saw and changes of symptoms in the operators.

The average maximum acceleration levels of chain saws by the one-third octave band analyzer decreased considerably from 5.1 G (range: 2.5 to 8.0 G) during 1965-1975 to 1.7 G (range: 1.0 to 2.5 G) during 1976-1988. The effects of this reduced vibration level on the prevalence of vibration syndrome were studied by comparing two groups of male chain-saw workers: 285 who started to use chain saws b...