A new dynamic splint for postoperative treatment of flexor tendon injury

This dynamic splint lessens resistance to finger extension and increases the arc of motion through full passive flexion of the injured fingers. Rubber bands run from the tips of the injured fingers under a spring-loaded roller bar at the metacarpophalangeal joint level to a coiled lever at the distal flexor surface of the forearm. The wrist is positioned in 45 degrees of flexion with 40 degrees to full flexion of the metacarpophalangeal joints and full flexion to full extension of the interphalangeal joints. We retrospectively compared patients treated in the new and traditional splints. Patients with coexisting fractures, extensor tendon injury, and insufficient follow-up were excluded. By use of Strickland's modified criteria in evaluating 36 patients treated in the new splint, 35 of 46 fingers with zone II tendon injury (76.1%) had excellent and 11 (23.9%) had good total active motion; none had fair or poor results or ruptures. Results were significantly better than after treatment in the traditional splint.