[Preventive examinations of hollow glassware cutters]

In a group of 429 glass cutters complaints in the region of the ulnar nerve were reported in 44.7%, the local findings in 36.8%. Most complaints in men were reported between the eleventh and twentieth year of glass cutting, in women during the first five years of occupation. Electromyographic studies showed in 24.0% the limit of the normal, in 14.0% discrete pathological findings. The fewest subjective complaints were reported in workers, who had leaned on their forearms instead of their elbows and had been using a rubber rest. In a group of 40 glass cutters a lot of clinical examinations and epidemiological parameters was evaluated. It was found that the upper limits of vibrations transferred to the arms were exceeded. X-ray-examinations of the cervical spine showed pathological findings in 39 of 40 glass cutters. Electromyographic studies revealed disturbances of the ulnar nerve and the median nerve, too. Clinical findings in a group of 422 apprentice glass grinders were discrete but increased year by year. Most clinical findings were seen either during the fourth or during the seventh respectively eighth year of glass cutting.