Lawn Mower Injuries in Children

This report summarizes 17 power lawn mower injuries in children. The severity of the injuries, the young age of the victims, and the ease with which they all could have been prevented have prompted us to review these cases. The 17 children were admitted to the Children's Hospital, Columbus, Ohio, during the period from June 1966 to September 1969. They ranged in age from 2 to 12 years, and there were 12 boys and five girls. At the time of the injury, four were bystanders, six were operating walking mowers, and seven were passengers riding with their parents on mowers of the tractor type. Report of Cases Bystanders.—A 9-year-old boy tumbled down a hill into the path of a power mower. He sustained a severe laceration of the left elbow, resulting in partial amputation of the arm and severing of the ulnar and radial nerves and the distal end