Systematische literaturrecherche zu den akuten effekten von einzelstoß-und vibrationsbelastungen des hand-arm-systems

Information on acute effects of occupational hand-arm-exposures – especially vibration and single shocks-are rather scarce. Accordingly there is a lack of valid approaches for the prevention of health effects when using vibration or single shock tools or machines at the workplace. The here presented literature review intends to gather current knowledge and answer the following question: which diagnostic tools are apt to be used in a preventive approach to identify acute health effects after workplace exposure to hand-arm vibration or single shocks. For this, a systematic literature research and analysis regarding the two different, but associated contents of this question was conducted. The systematic search of three databases (PubMed, Scopus, Cochrane Library) resulted in 16.150 hits. These were further selected and analysed. Altogether 26 studies reported acute health effects as a result of single shock or vibration exposure. The main acute effect was reported to be an altered vibration perception threshold. The database for vascular effects is ambiguous. Other acute health effects were only reported by few studies. All in all 336 studies were found to answer the question which diagnostic tools should be used to identify acute health effects. Here, the above reported results were replicated insofar, as about 100 studies reported tools for the diagnosis of vibration perception thresholds as apt instruments for diagnosis in a preventive, workplace-related setting. Though the literature research helped in creating an overview of current knowledge, it is still unclear whether the identified acute health effects are predictive for later long-term effects, which are known to appear after occupational hand-arm-vibration.