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Updated: Dec 28, 2025
Behavioral Assessment of Manual Dexterity in Non-Human Primates
Published on: November 11, 2011
Assessment of hand function using the functional dexterity test after opponensplasty in young children with Blauth
Kousuke Iba1, Shinichiro Takayama2, Hidehiko Kawabata3
1Department of Orthopaedic Surgery, Sapporo Medical University School of Medicine, Sapporo.
Insights
The functional dexterity test (FDT) improved assessment of hand function in children with Blauth type 2 hypoplastic thumbs after surgery. Postoperative FDT scores showed significant gains in dexterity compared to non-surgically treated patients.
Area of Science:
- Pediatric Orthopedics
- Hand Surgery
- Rehabilitation Medicine
Background:
- Hypoplastic thumbs, particularly Blauth type 2, present challenges in hand function.
- Opponensplasty is a surgical procedure to improve thumb function.
- Objective assessment of surgical outcomes is crucial for pediatric hand conditions.
Purpose of the Study:
- To evaluate postoperative hand function in children with Blauth type 2 hypoplastic thumbs using the functional dexterity test (FDT).
- To compare FDT outcomes after opponensplasty with non-surgically treated Blauth type 1 and 2 hypoplastic thumbs.
- To determine if FDT can effectively measure improvements in hand dexterity post-surgery.
Main Methods:
- Assessed 12 hands of 11 pediatric patients with Blauth type 2 hypoplastic thumbs after Huber's opponensplasty.
- Utilized the functional dexterity test (FDT) measuring time, total time with penalties, and speed against normative values.
- Compared postoperative FDT scores with those of non-surgically treated Blauth type 1 and 2 hypoplastic thumb patients.
Main Results:
- Postoperative FDT time and FDT total scores were significantly better than in non-surgically treated type 2 patients.
- FDT speed was significantly higher in postoperative patients compared to non-surgically treated patients.
- No significant differences were found between postoperative patients and non-surgically treated type 1 patients.
Conclusions:
- The functional dexterity test (FDT) effectively reflects improved hand dexterity in young children following opponensplasty for Blauth type 2 hypoplastic thumbs.
- Opponensplasty demonstrates positive outcomes in hand function as measured by FDT.
- FDT provides a valuable tool for assessing surgical success in pediatric hand reconstruction.
Abstract:
The functional dexterity test (FDT) is a timed pegboard test based on the manipulation of each peg and suitable for young children as it is both simple and quick to perform. We assessed the postoperative FDT values for children with Blauth type 2 hypoplastic thumbs after opponensplasty. We evaluated hand function using FDT for 12 hands of 11 patients with Blauth type 2 hypoplastic thumbs. Opponensplasty was performed in all hands following by Huber's procedure. All patients were evaluated from 6 to 12 months after surgery for hand function using three types of FDT scores: time in seconds to complete the test (FDT time), combined total time with penalty seconds added to the initial time (FDT total), and the number of pegs per second to complete the task as a percentage against normative values (FDT speed). We compared the postoperative FDT scores with those for Blauth type 1 or 2 hypoplastic thumb patients without surgical treatment. FDT time and FDT total for the patients postoperatively were both significantly shorter than those in the type 2 patients without surgical treatment. FDT speed was significantly higher than that for the patients without surgical treatment. There were no significant differences in the three FDT scores between the postoperative patients and the type 1 patients. There were several limitations including small sample size, large ranges of the data, and high number of variables. FDT reflected postopponensplasty improvement in hand dexterity in young children with Blauth type 2 hypoplastic thumb.
