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The Effectiveness of Rehabilitation after Open Surgical Release for Trigger Finger: A Prospective, Randomized,
Taichi Saito1, Ryo Nakamichi1, Ryuichi Nakahara1
1Department of Orthopaedic Surgery, Okayama University Graduate School of Medicine, Dentistry and Pharmaceutical Sciences, 2-5-1, Shikata-cho, Kitaku, Okayama 700-8558, Japan.
Background:
It is not clear whether rehabilitation after surgery for trigger finger is effective. The aim of this study was to reveal its effectiveness for trigger finger.
Methods:
This study was a randomized, controlled trial that included patients who underwent operations for trigger fingers. The patients in the rehabilitation group had postoperative occupational therapy (OT) for 3 months, while the patients in the control group were not referred for rehabilitation but received advice for a range of motion exercises. We evaluated the severity of trigger finger, Disability of Arm-Shoulder-Hand (DASH) score, pain-visual analogue scale (VAS), grip strength, whether they gained a full range of motion (ROM), and complications before and after surgery.
Results:
Finally, 29 and 28 patients were included in the control and rehabilitation groups, respectively. At final follow-up, the DASH score, grip strength, and ROM were significantly improved in the rehabilitation group compared to that preoperatively. At final follow-up, pain was significantly improved in both groups from that preoperatively. There were no significant differences in the results, including the DASH score, grip strength, ROM and pain-VAS between the control and rehabilitation groups at the final follow-up. Subgroup analysis showed that there is a significant difference in the DASH score of patients doing housework or light work and those with a duration of symptoms >12 months between the control and rehabilitation groups at the final follow-up.
