Burn on the buttocks caused by gel wheelchair cushion left on driver’s seat of hand control car

Abstract

Context: Nowadays, people with paraplegia and quadriplegia have greater opportunities to venture into the general public. However, there is also an increased risk of associated hazards.

Findings: This report describes a 42-year-old man with paraplegia, who was insensate below the T7 level and sustained burns from sitting on a gel wheelchair cushion that had been left on the driver-side seat of a hand control car on a sunny day. Physical examination revealed deep partial-thickness burns on both his buttocks. He underwent surgical debridement and received an autologous split-thickness skin graft, and healed well.

Conclusion In modern times, the lives of people with paralysis are no longer restricted to the bed and wheelchair. Active people with spinal cord injuries inevitably diversify the use of wheelchair cushions in many ways; therefore, there is a greater possibility for the occurrence of associated hazards. This is a preventable issue, so both the user and manufacturers should recognize this potential hazard of gel wheelchair cushions.

Keywords:

• Wheelchair cushion
• Contact burn
• Paraplegia
• Spinal cord injury
• Hand control car

Acknowledgements

We would like to thank Yuzuru Kamei, MD, PhD and Hisakazu Kato, MD, PhD for providing valuable advice.

Disclaimer statements

Contributors None.

Funding None.

Conflicts of interest None.