Kite String Injury Causing a Complete Tear of the Tendoachilles

Abstract

Kite flying is a common activity in many countries, particularly India. Fierce competition has led to the use of dangerous kite threads like manja (which is a cotton or nylon thread coated with powdered glass) to gain an edge over rivals. The sharp manja can not only cause linear abrasions or deep incised wounds among flyers but it can inflict equally serious injuries to onlookers or unwary pedestrians and two-wheeler riders on the street. Hand, throat, angle of mouth, nose, and feet are some common sites of injury. We report a case of a 62-year-old man who sustained a manja cut injury through the tendoachilles while walking on the roadside when his foot got entangled in the barely visible thin thread as a bicycle rushed past him. The wound was debrided and tendoachilles repaired using the Krackow technique. The patient had reasonable strength in plantar-flexion and good active range of motion at the ankle when last seen at the one-year follow-up. The aim of this article is to highlight the hazards of manja and the need to revisit and acknowledge the clinical, social, and administrative implications of this unusual but noteworthy mechanism of limb and life-threatening injury.