Rehabilitation of fingers after flexor tendon lesions qualified for secondary reconstruction, using Kleinert's...

Background. Primary reconstruction of flexor tendons lesions resulting from serious hand mutilations is not always possible. This causes problems in the rehabilitation of finger joints that are unable to perform active flexion. There is no generally accepted approach to such cases. The authors used a dynamic splinting regimen to treat fingers with unrepaired flexor tendons qualified for secondary reconstruction. Material and methods. Our research involved 39 patients treated in the Department Limb Replantation at St. Jadwiga's Hospital in Trzebnica, Poland, who had been referred for flexor tendon repair (from 1 to 3) in secondary reconstruction. The time from the primary operation ranged from 10 to 14 weeks. There were 27 men and 12 women, ranging in age from 19 to 60 years (ave. 39.5), divided into two groups. 24 patients (group I) had their fingers mobilized by dynamic splinting method, while in 14 patients (group II) no specific regimen of rehabilitation applied: the patients mobilized their fingers with their unimpaired hand. Results. The loss of total passive motion of finger joints was up to 75.65 degrees (~29%) greater in group II. Conclusions. The method applied is very effective in maintaining a wide range of passive motion in finger joints, which is essential for secondary flexor tendon reconstruction.