“Around the global hand table”: Hand surgeon and therapist perspectives on overcoming barriers to relative motion orthotic intervention in the management of zones V-VI finger extensor tendon repairs

Our 2021 international survey1 inquiring about hand therapists preferred postoperative management approach of zones V-VI extensor tendon repairs resulted in several unexpected findings. The popularity of the relative motion extension (RME) orthosis/early active motion (EAM) approach (43%), referred to throughout this manuscript as the RME/EAM approach, was not anticipated when compared to the available alternate approaches of: palmar resting interphalangeal joints (IPJs) free/EAM (25%), resting hand orthosis/EAM (15%) dynamic/early passive motion (8%), and resting hand orthosis/immobilization (7%).

Source: Journal of Hand Therapy - April 8, 2023 Category: Rehabilitation Authors: Julianne W. Howell, Melissa J. Hirth Source Type: research