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Rehabilitation of Finger Flexor Tendon Injuries

Not Applicable
Recruiting
Conditions
Flexor Tendon Rupture
Interventions
Other: Manchester Short Splint
Other: Relative Motion Flexion
Registration Number
NCT05078476
Lead Sponsor
Insel Gruppe AG, University Hospital Bern
Brief Summary

The primary objective is to compare the two different rehabilitation protocols relative motion flexion and short splint regarding patients'satisfaction in patients with flexor tendon injuries in Zone I and II after 13 and 26 weeks post-surgery.

Detailed Description

Not available

Recruitment & Eligibility

Status
RECRUITING
Sex
All
Target Recruitment
30
Inclusion Criteria
  • Informed consent as documented by signature
  • ≥ 18 years old
  • Understanding of the German language (written and oral)
  • Single and multiple finger injuries
  • Primary flexor tendon injuries in Zone I-V for the fingers and/ or thumb
  • Treated by the hand surgery department at the Inselspital Bern
  • Treated with at least a 4-strand core suture
Exclusion Criteria
  • < 18 years old
  • Inability to follow the procedures of the study, e.g. due to language problems, diagnosed psychological disorders or dementia of the patients
  • Replantation of the injured finger
  • Fracture of the injured finger
  • Primary tendon reconstructions

Study & Design

Study Type
INTERVENTIONAL
Study Design
PARALLEL
Arm && Interventions
GroupInterventionDescription
Manchester Short SplintManchester Short SplintDorsal splint ending shortly behind the wrist. The splint will be worn for 6 weeks after surgery and the patient will perform active and passive exercises in the splint.
Relative Motion FlexionRelative Motion FlexionIn the relative motion splint the injured finger is positioned in relative flexion in the MCP joint to the adjacent fingers. Additionally to the relative motion flexion splint a wrist orthosis is adapted. Passive and active exercises will be performed out of the splint.
Primary Outcome Measures
NameTimeMethod
Change in patient satisfaction13 and 26 weeks after tendon repair

The satisfaction with the outcome will be evaluated by asking the patient a Single Assessment Numeric Evaluation (SANE) question: "How satisfied are you with your hand on a scale from 0 (not satisfied at all) to 10 (fully satisfied)?

Secondary Outcome Measures
NameTimeMethod
Disabilities of Shoulder, Arm and Hand Questionnaire6, 13 and 26 weeks after tendon repair

The DASH questionnaire is a region-specific outcome instrument. The patient will rate 30-items about disability or symptoms by rating the degree of difficulty in doing various activities. The scores of all items are used to calculate a score ranging from 0 (no disability) to 100 (most severe disability).

Number of therapy sessions26 weeks after tendon repair

The number of therapy sessions will be counted after 26 weeks or at the end of of therapy if after 26 weeks measurement.

Range of motion6, 13 and 26 weeks after tendon repair

The range of motion will be measured with a goniometry.

Michigan Hand Questionnaire (MHQ)6, 13 and 26 weeks after tendon repair

The MHQ is a hand specific questionnaire used to measure the ability in daily function. The total score ranges from 0 to 100, with higher scores indicating better performance.

Grip Strength13 and 26 weeks after tendon repair

Grip Strength will be measured with the JAMAR Dynamometer.

Work Productivity and Activity Impairment Questionnaire6, 13 and 26 weeks after tendon repair

The WPAI is a quantitative assessment of absenteeism, presenteeism, and overall productivity loss attributable to a specific health problem during the previous 7 days.

Rupture rate/ Complications26 weeks after tendon repair

Tendon rupture will be documented

Complications26 weeks after tendon repair

complications will be documented (e.g. CRPS, infection)

Patients specific function scale6, 13 and 26 weeks after tendon repair

The patient defines three to five activities that are difficult or that he/she is unable to perform due to the hand injury. The patient is asked to rate the difficulty associated with each activity from 0 to 10. 0 is defined as not able to do the activity and 10 is able to do the activity normally.

Level of pain6, 13 and 26 weeks after tendon repair

The patient will be asked to rate the pain from 0 to 10. 0 indicates no pain, 10 the worst possible pain. The patient rate the pain while relaxed and during exercises.

Ten Test6, 13 and 26 weeks after tendon repair

The Ten Test is a measure of discriminative sensation, whereby the patient describes the sensation from no sensation "0" to normal sensation "10" on an 11-point Likert scale.

Trial Locations

Locations (1)

Inselspital, Bern University Hospital

🇨🇭

Bern, Switzerland

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