Demographic features and difficulties in rehabilitation in patients referred to hand rehabilitation unit for phalangeal fractures
Abstract
Methods : The study included 91 fingers of 62 patients (54 males, 8 females; mean age 28±13 years; range 4 to 59 years) who were referred to our hand rehabilitation unit for phalangeal fractures. Demographic features, the cause and localization of injury, the type of surg e r y, time from surg e r y to rehabilitation, and the follow-up period were determined. At the end of rehabilitation, range of motion (ROM) of the phalangeal joint and total ROM of the injured fingers were assessed using the Strickland-Glogovac rating system.
Results : A great majority of injuries were caused by work accidents, followed by sport injuries and falls occurring in students. Sixty patients (96.8%) were right–handed. The fractures occurred in the dominant hand in 29 patients (46.8%). The majority of patients (n=45) were primary school graduates. The most common mechanism of injury was accidents related to heavy work machinery (n=18). The most commonly injured finger and the phalanx were the third finger (n=25, 27.5%) and the proximal phalanx (n=59, 56.7%), respectively. Only 27 patients (43.6%) had a sufficient follow-up with a mean of 79.7±46.6 days (range 30 to 254 days). Following rehabilitation, the mean ROM and the total ROM were 45.0±22.9° and 63.3±16.1° for the injured joint and the thumb, and 31.3±22.5° and 122±60.3° for the injured joint and the other fingers,
respectively.
Conclusion : Our data provide important insight into appropriate treatment and rehabilitation of phalangeal fractures, in particular, shortcomings in the treatment and follow-up.
Keywords
Details
Primary Language
English
Subjects
Health Care Administration
Journal Section
Research Article
Authors
Fusun Sahin
This is me
Serap Yucel
This is me
Figen Yilmaz
This is me
Ernur Ergoz
This is me
Banu Kuran
This is me
Publication Date
November 20, 2006
Submission Date
March 7, 2014
Acceptance Date
-
Published in Issue
Year 2006 Volume: 40 Number: 4