Severe crush injury to the lower extremity after a snowmobile accident in rural Greenland

Description

In Arctic Greenland, the traditional transportation method of dogsledding is increasingly being replaced by snowmobiles. Snowmobile-related injuries and fatalities are increasing, causing 281 hospitalisations yearly in Wisconsin alone.1 Injuries often include musculoskeletal damage.2 Greenland is a vast country spanning 2,600 km from North to South, with extreme weather conditions making provision of healthcare a logistical challenge.

We present the case of a 24-year-old man involved in a high-speed snowmobile collision in rural Northern Greenland. Snowmobiling at night, his vehicle was impacted by another snowmobile, crushing his left lower extremity (figure 1). He was evacuated by helicopter more than 800 km south to Greenland's referral hospital in the capital city Nuuk for surgical care. The fracture was fixated externally with the Hoffman frame. The ruptured muscle and skin was sutured, leaving a 4 cm skin defect treated with negative pressure wound therapy. Due to subsequent...

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