Reported 2.5.15 on Kidspot

Do you remember when we told you about Tizzie Hall’s youngest, Ciarán, who, at just a few months of age, had one of Tizzie’s hairs wrapped around his teen tiny toe?

They called in a paramedic friend who was nearby, who was confident she could remove it, but she also failed. A more senior paramedic colleague was also unsuccessful, and suggested they go to hospital, as the toe was now turning blue.

Arriving at emergency, Tizzie and her husband were taken to a procedure room and seen by staff who were confident they’d have the hair off in a few minutes. After initial attempts were unsuccessful, it was decided that a numbing cream should be applied to give the staff a better chance of success. After numerous attempts by increasingly more senior doctors, a plastic surgeon was called in and the possibility of an operation under general anaesthetic was discussed.

Fortunately, the plastic surgeon was eventually able to remove the hair with just the use of a local anaesthetic, but Ciarán and Tizzie were kept in overnight for observation and will need to follow up with the surgeon in the coming weeks to ensure that circulation is fully restored to the toe and that any scarring is not too serious.

It’s happened again!

Not to Tizzie this time, but to a Brisbane family, who found one of mum’s hairs wrapped around and around their three-month-old son Kurtis’s toes so tight that surgery was required to remove the strands from three of this tootsies! Read more below:

The following post was originally published in The Courier Mail by Jodie Munro O’Brien.

A Brisbane family’s quick trip out to the shops last week ended with their infant son having emergency surgery on his toes after a hair-raising discovery.

Now Evie Canavan, 31, of Crestmead in Logan, wants to warn other parents to be vigilant about the danger of hair around young children after she and her partner discovered strands wound so tightly around the toes of their three-month-old son’s foot he was in surgery only hours later.

kurtis before -after

Thin strands of hair wrapped around baby Kurtis’ toes required surgery to be removed (l), thankfully Kurtis’ toes are almost totally healed now (r). Images: Courier Mail

Ms Canavan, partner Brad Abbott, their five-year-old daughter Yazmin and their son Kurtis were hopping in the car about 10am after a quick trip to a local butcher when she noticed their son’s toes were red and swollen.

“I was putting him in his car seat and happened to look at his feet,” she says. “I noticed some of his toes were red with little creases in them. I saw a bit of fluff and went to pick it off but then saw a little cut on the top of his toe.”

Ms Canavan said she called her partner over and he spotted some fine strands of blonde hair wrapped around the baby’s right foot.

After unsuccessfully trying to remove the strands of hair, they rushed Kurtis to the nearest medical centre.

Staff members there were also unable to remove the hair strands, so sent the family straight to the Lady Cilento Children’s Hospital in Brisbane.

Hair Tourniquet Syndrome

“We went straight to emergency there and they took us straight in,” Ms Canavan says. “They got the hair loose on the toe next to the little one with some type of tool, but the doctor thought there was still some around it and they went and got the surgeon.

“Because of his age they had to take him into theatre and put him under general anaesthetic.”

The surgeon had to cut a split in two of the baby’s toes in order to remove the remaining strands of hair. Ms Canavan says Kurtis received one stitch to his toe and has to keep a bandage on his foot for the week.

“They cut downwards on the toes and did pull one or two more strands out,” she says. “They were so fine we couldn’t tell (they were there).”

“We felt like bad parents. But we’d given him a bath that morning and the hair wasn’t there then. He was on the floor when we were getting ready, but then we had only gone from the house to the car seat to the pram.”

kurtis 4

Evie Canavan and Brad Abbott with Kurtis. Image: Courier Mail

It is often difficult to see thin hair strands

Paediatric Emergency Physician at the Lady Cilento, Sarah Martin, said hair being caught around infant and toddler’s extremities was called Hair Tourniquet Syndrome.

She did not operate on Kurtis but said his sounded like a severe case, “It’s not common but it’s not uncommon,” Dr Martin says. “If a baby is brought in and is irritable it’s one of the things we look for.”

“Most of them don’t have to go to theatre. We try initially to unwrap the hair manually, then sometimes we have to cut it with forceps.” she says.

Dr Martin says hair tourniquets affected the blood supply to the tip of the extremity they were wrapped around, which then also prevented the drainage of the blood in the other direction.

Although anywhere from earlobes to wrists could be effected, toes, fingers and boys’ genitals were the most common areas treated.

“If the tip of the toe swells up, it becomes harder and harder to remove,” Dr Martin explains. “After hours or longer the blood supply can be completely cut off, which can occasionally cause tissue to die and cause auto amputation. But this is exceedingly rare.”

Dr Martin says although nylon and cotton threads caused the same risks, mother’s hair was the most common cause for infants, as they are around their mothers a lot and women often lost an increased amount of hair in the months after giving birth.

“It often happens when the babies are wearing socks or jumpsuits with a hair stuck inside, then the babies go to sleep and wriggle their feet around in their socks,” she says. “But until this happens a lot of parents haven’t heard about it, so it’s good to just be aware that this (threat) exists.”

“The message is, if parents notice a finger or toe or penis or any part of the body looks red with swelling along with a clear little indent and they can’t sort it out themselves, they should present to their closest emergency department.”

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