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Upper extremity function in children with congenital hand anomalies
1Department of Rehabilitation Services, Division of Occupational Therapy, The Hospital for Sick Children, Torornto, Canada. emily.ho@sickkids.ca
Insights
Pollicization and centralization surgeries aim to improve function in children with congenital hand anomalies. Further research is needed to improve study quality and validate surgical outcomes.
Area of Science:
- Pediatric Surgery
- Hand Surgery
- Congenital Anomalies
Background:
- Functional enhancement is a primary goal in managing pediatric congenital hand anomalies.
- Pollicization and centralization are surgical procedures used to address these conditions.
Purpose of the Study:
- To systematically review existing literature on the functional outcomes of pollicization and centralization surgeries in children.
- To assess the quality of evidence supporting these surgical interventions.
Main Methods:
- A systematic literature search was conducted using MEDLINE, CINAHL, and secondary reference lists.
- Studies were included if they reported on the functional outcome of pollicization or centralization surgery in pediatric patients.
- Included studies were analyzed based on their level of evidence.
Main Results:
- Ten studies were reviewed, with one study at level 3 evidence and nine at level 4.
- The overall quality of evidence for functional outcomes in these surgical interventions is limited.
Conclusions:
- Rigorous research is essential to validate the effectiveness of surgical interventions for congenital hand anomalies.
- Improvements in research methodology, sampling, and functional outcome measurement are needed to enhance study quality in this field.
Abstract:
The enhancement of function takes priority in the management of children with congenital hand anomalies. The authors conducted a systematic review of studies of pollicization and centralization surgery to examine functional outcome. The search strategy included MEDLINE, CINAHL, and reference lists from secondary resources. The selection criteria included all literature pertaining to the functional outcome of children having either pollicization or centralization surgery. The studies were analyzed according to the levels of evidence for primary research. Ten studies were reviewed; one study was evaluated at level 3 and the remaining were level 4. Rigorous research of functional outcome is needed to validate surgical interventions. Enhancing the quality of functional outcome studies in this population requires improvements in research methodology, sampling, and measurement of function.
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