Prospective Study on Splinting for First Carpometacarpal Joint: A Comparison of Conventional and Three-Dimensional...

Background: Patient compliance is a major concern of hand orthosis in first carpometacarpal osteoarthritis. To address this issue, we established a method for creating a custom-made three-dimensional printed splint based on computed tomography. This prospective study evaluates the usefulness of the three-dimensional printed splint compared with the conventional splint. Methods: A total of 12 hands in nine patients were included. The mean age of the patients was 69 years (range: 58-84). Conventional orthoses were made by prosthetists using molds. Three-dimensional printed orthoses (long and short types) were digitally designed from computed tomography data and created using Fused Deposition Modeling. Subjects were instructed to use three types of orthoses for 2 weeks each. They completed questionnaires that indicated pain, function, percentage of daytime spent using the orthosis, satisfaction score, and discomfort caused by wearing orthoses. Results: The pain on motion showed an improvement of approximately 20% for all orthoses. There was no significant difference in pain scale, function, percentages of daytime spent using each orthosis, and satisfaction score among the three types of orthoses. Discomfort caused by wearing orthosis was more frequent in conventional orthosis than in 3D-printed orthosis, and there was a significant difference between the conventional type and the long-type 3D-printed orthosis. Conclusions: This study suggests that 3D-printed splints provide comparable pain relief to conventional splints with reduced discomfort. However, limitations such as small sample size, short follow-up, and reliance on CT imaging highlight the need for further research.