New understanding of the diagnosis of injuries caused by hand-transmitted vibration

Excerpt

New understanding of the diagnosis of injuries caused by hand-transmitted vibration was presented and discussed during the 2nd international workshop on the diagnosis of injuries caused by hand-transmitted vibration organised by the European project VIBRISKS and the University of Gothenburg in Göteborg, Sweden, 6–7 September 2006. This issue contains selected papers presented at the workshop. The importance of better methods for diagnosing injuries caused by hand-transmitted vibration has grown in Europe in the last year since the European directive on vibration came into effect in all European countries. In other parts of the world, increased effort to improve diagnosis is promoted by the debate on medical-legal compensation claims and increased interest in the prevention of occupational diseases. The 2nd international workshop on the diagnosis of injuries caused by hand-transmitted vibration benefited from the presence of world-renowned experts on hand-transmitted vibration injuries, who presented and discussed new achievements in diagnosis. We are grateful for the skill and expertise shown by the authors, both during the workshop and thereafter, in adjusting their papers according to comments and questions from distinguished referees. The referees of the papers have also done an excellent job in contributing to the published papers, making this issue an important milestone in the evidence-based diagnosis of injuries caused by hand-transmitted vibration. …