Clinical features and laboratory findings of vibration disease: a review of 300 cases.

Clinical features and laboratory findings of 300 inpatients with vibration disease before and after treatments were reviewed. Having been using chain saws or pneumatic hammers for a long period, the patients were afflicted with Raynaud's phenomenon, numbness, pain or stiffness of fingers, pain of elbows and neck, stiffness of shoulders and lumbago. They had high incidences of complaints due to the disorder of the central nervous system, especially of the higher center of the autonomic nervous system; i.e. headache (52.0%), palmar hyperhidrosis (70.0%), forgetfulness (78.2%), fatiguability (61.3%), tinnitus (41.8%), impotence (55.1%), etc. Laboratory findings of the autonomic nerve activity tests, electroencephalograms and audiograms also suggested the disorder of the central nervous system. Treatments during three months had improved significantly the subjective symptoms and the objective findings (p less than 0.05 to 0.001). Thus, vibration disease should be considered as a systemic disease, including disorders of the central nervous system, especially of the higher center of the autonomic nervous system, and disturbances of the peripheral functions.