Functional Hand-Based Splint in the Treatment of Metacarpal Fractures

2021 ◽  
pp. 229255032110428
Author(s):  
Paul J. Oxley ◽  
W. Fin Hodge

Background: Post-treatment stiffness remains a significant hurdle following treatment for displaced or minimally displaced metacarpal fractures. Treatment goals should focus on a stable and acceptable reduction, minimal patient morbidity, and optimal mobility. Methods: A retrospective review of all non-operative metacarpal fractures over a five-month period at a tertiary center hand clinic treated with a hand-based splint were reviewed for radiologic and clinical stability. The splint allowed metacarpophalngeal joint, interphalangeal joint, and radiocarpal joint motion. Data collected included age, handedness, type and location of fracture, occupation, and ability to continue working. Radiologic images were reviewed by a radiologist not otherwise involved in patient care. Results: Thirty-three patients were reviewed with a total of 39 fractures of the second, third, fourth, and fifth metacarpals. Nine patients had nondominant hand fractures while 24 were dominant hand injuries. Twenty out of 24 patients employed pre-injury were able to continue working without missing any days. Three patients were lost to the final follow-up. The average splint duration was 24 days. Twenty-seven of 30 patients showed no change in alignment from start of splinting to end, while three showed some change but remained within non-operative criteria. Conclusion: A hand-based functional splint for metacarpal fractures allows for excellent maintenance of fracture reduction, early or immediate return to pre-injury activities, low patient morbidity, and maintains functional motion throughout treatment. It can be applied to any non-operative fracture of the second through the fifth metacarpal.

2019 ◽  
Vol 21 (1) ◽  
pp. 35-39
Author(s):  
Praphulla Shrestha ◽  
SR Paudel ◽  
P Chalise

Hand fractures are different from other fractures elsewhere in the body. Functional impairment of hand leads to a prominent issue to the patient. We have a common practice of treatment of hand fractures by using kirschner wire(s). The internal fixation using plates and screws for metacarpal fractures of the hand is technically demanding but it is beneficial to the patients as it permits early mobilization and better pain relief. We studied the outcome of this type of internal fixation of the metacarpal fractures at Nepal Medical College. We included 26 patients above 18years with isolated extraarticular, closed and open Swanson I metacarpal fractures of the hand. Fractures with rotation of the digit and unacceptable angulation, shortening and unstable fractures were included. Pain was evaluated by visual analogue scale and function using American Society for Surgery of hand Total Active Flexion (ASSHTAF) score. The mean pain score (VAS) was 0.27 at 12 weeks. The ASSHTAF score showed excellent results in 92.3% patients at 12 weeks. At the final follow up 92.3% patients had excellent results, 3.8% had good and 3.8% had poor results. Fracture union was seen in all patients at final follow up. The study shows that internal fixation of unstable metacarpal fractures gives significant pain relief to the patient and an excellent functional outcome.


2015 ◽  
Vol 40 (8) ◽  
pp. 840-845 ◽  
Author(s):  
K. Karthik ◽  
R. Tahmassebi ◽  
R. S. Khakha ◽  
J. Compson

Symptomatic malunited metacarpal fractures can significantly affect hand function. We retrospectively reviewed the results of our technique of corrective osteotomy in 14 malunited metacarpal fractures (12 patients) with an average age of 30 years (range 18–49) from January 2005 to December 2011. The dominant hand was involved in nine patients and all except one were male. The malunited metacarpals demonstrated mean dorsal apex angulation of 43° (range 33°–72°) with apparent metacarpal shortening. All except three cases had rotational deformity. All patients underwent surgical correction of the deformity using our described technique of closing wedge osteotomy using temporary intramedullary K-wire and plate fixation. At a mean follow-up of 46 months (range 12–78), the DASH scores improved significantly ( p < 0.001). All our patients scored ‘excellent’ according to the Büchler criteria and at final follow-up had returned to pre-injury work and sports activities. Our technique is safe, easily performed and can be adapted to correct a range of deformities. Level of evidence: Level IV


2017 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
pp. 447-451 ◽  
Author(s):  
Vasilis Athanasiou ◽  
Ilias D. Iliopoulos ◽  
Konstantinos Pantazis ◽  
Andreas Panagopoulos

Background: Solitary fractures of the body of the hamate are rare. Their diagnosis is difficult and requires a high clinical suspicion and a proper radiological examination. Case report: We present a case of a 36-year-old male patient who sustained an intraarticular fracture of the body of the hamate along with dorsal dislocation of the 4th and 5th metacarpals on his right dominant hand. Through a dorsal surgical approach, he underwent ORIF of the hamate with screws and stabilization of the dislocated 4th and 5th metacarpals with KW. At his last follow-up appointment, 18 months postoperatively, he had no pain, almost full range of motion on his fingers and a Mayo Wrist score of 90 points. Conclusions: Hamate fractures are rare entities that can cause significant patient morbidity if not recognized and treated appropriately.


Cancers ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (3) ◽  
pp. 537
Author(s):  
Felix Ehret ◽  
Markus Kufeld ◽  
Christoph Fürweger ◽  
Alfred Haidenberger ◽  
Paul Windisch ◽  
...  

Background: The rates of incomplete surgical resection for pituitary macroadenomas with cavernous sinus invasion are high. In growth hormone-producing adenomas, there is a considerable risk for persistent acromegaly. Thus, effective treatment options are needed to limit patient morbidity and mortality. This multicenter study assesses the efficacy and safety of robotic radiosurgery (RRS) for patients with cavernous sinus-invading adenomas with persistent acromegaly. Methods: Patients who underwent RRS with CyberKnife for postoperative acromegaly were eligible. Results: Fifty patients were included. At a median follow-up of 57 months, the local control was 100%. The pretreatment insulin-like growth factor 1 (IGF-1) levels and indexes were 381 ng/mL and 1.49, respectively. The median dose and prescription isodose were 18 Gy and 70%, respectively. Six months after RRS, and at the last follow-up, the IGF-1 levels and indexes were 277 ng/mL and 1.14, as well as 196 ng/mL and 0.83, respectively (p = 0.0001 and p = 0.0002). The IGF-1 index was a predictor for biochemical remission (p = 0.04). Nine patients achieved biochemical remission and 24 patients showed biochemical disease control. Three patients developed a new hypopituitarism. Conclusions: RRS is an effective treatment for this challenging patient population. IGF-1 levels are decreasing after treatment and most patients experience biochemical disease control or remission.


Cancers ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (8) ◽  
pp. 1963
Author(s):  
Daimantas Milonas ◽  
Tomas Ruzgas ◽  
Zilvinas Venclovas ◽  
Mindaugas Jievaltas ◽  
Steven Joniau

Objective: To assess the risk of cancer-specific mortality (CSM) and other-cause mortality (OCM) using post-operative International Society of Urological Pathology Grade Group (GG) model in patients after radical prostatectomy (RP). Patients and Methods: Overall 1921 consecutive men who underwent RP during 2001 to 2017 in a single tertiary center were included in the study. Multivariate competing risk regression analysis was used to identify significant predictors and quantify cumulative incidence of CSM and OCM. Time-depending area under the curve (AUC) depicted the performance of GG model on prediction of CSM. Results: Over a median follow-up of 7.9-year (IQR 4.4-11.7) after RP, 235 (12.2%) deaths were registered, and 52 (2.7%) of them were related to PCa. GG model showed high and stable performance (time-dependent AUC 0.88) on prediction of CSM. Cumulative 10-year CSM in GGs 1 to 5 was 0.9%, 2.3%, 7.6%, 14.7%, and 48.6%, respectively; 10-year OCM in GGs was 15.5%, 16.1%, 12.6%, 17.7% and 6.5%, respectively. The ratio between 10-year CSM/OCM in GGs 1 to 5 was 1:17, 1:7, 1:2, 1:1, and 7:1, respectively. Conclusions: Cancer-specific and other-cause mortality differed widely between GGs. Presented findings could aid in personalized clinical decision making for active treatment.


2020 ◽  
Vol 41 (Supplement_2) ◽  
Author(s):  
N Kato ◽  
R Padang ◽  
C Pislaru ◽  
C.G Scott ◽  
V.T Nkomo ◽  
...  

Abstract Background Transmitral gradient (TMG) is highly dependent on hemodynamic state, leading to discordance between TMG and mitral valve area (MVA). The effect of heart rate (HR) and stroke volume (SV) on TMG among patients with mitral stenosis (MS) is poorly understood. Purposes We aimed to (1) develop a formula for projected TMG (proTMG) for assessment of MS severity under varying hemodynamics; (2) assess the prognostic value of proTMG in patients with MS. Methods All patients evaluated for suspected MS without ≥moderate other valve disorder at our tertiary center between 2001 and 2017 were analyzed. Projected TMG is the expected gradient under normal flow (SV 80–94 ml and HR 60–79 bpm), and was modeled based on the observed impact of HR and SV on TMG by multiple regression analysis. The data were randomly split (2:1) into training and testing sets. The improvement in agreement between MVA and proTMG was evaluated. Composite cardiac events including all-cause death and mitral valve interventions were compared according to TMG grade using TMG and proTMG. Severe and moderate MS were defined as MVA ≤1.5 cm2 and 1.5–2.0 cm2 respectively, by the continuity equation. MVA ≤1.0 cm2 was considered as very severe MS. Results Of 4973 patients with suspected MS (age 73±12 years, 33% male), severe MS was present in 437 (9%, including 98 with very severe MS) and moderate MS in 934 (19%). In 838 patients with normal HR and SV, very severe, severe and moderate MS corresponded to TMG ≥12 mmHg, ≥6 mmHg and 4–6 mmHg, respectively. In the training set (n=3315), the median [interquartile range] of HR and SV were 70 [61–80] bpm and 97 [83–113] mL in men (n=1120), and 72 [63–82] bpm and 84 [71–97] mL in women (n=2195), respectively. The impact of HR and SV on TMG for men and women were 0.07 and 0.08 mmHg per 1 bpm increase in HR (95% confidence interval [CI] 0.06–0.07 and 0.07–0.08), and 0.03 and 0.05 mmHg per 1 mL increase in SV (95% CI 0.03–0.03 and 0.04–0.05), respectively. Therefore, the final formula to calculate proTMG was: proTMG=TMG-0.07(HR-70)-0.03(SV-97) in men and proTMG=TMG-0.08(HR-72)-0.05(SV-84) in women. In the testing set (n=1658), the proTMG (kappa=0.63, 95% CI 0.60–0.66) had better agreement with MS severity by MVA than TMG (kappa=0.28, 95% CI 0.24–0.32). To explore the prevalence of patients reclassified using proTMG, in 98 with TMG ≥12 mmHg, proTMG remained ≥6 mmHg. Of 657 with TMG 6–12 mmHg, proTMG remained ≥6 mmHg in 356 (54%), and decreased to &lt;6 mmHg in 301 (46%). In patients with TMG 6–12 mmHg, proTMG ≥6 mmHg was associated with higher probability of cardiac events compared with &lt;6 mmHg during follow-up of 2.8±3.1 years (Figure). Conclusion We propose a novel concept of projected TMG defined as the expected transmitral gradient at normal HR and SV levels. This improved the diagnostic yield of Doppler TMG measurements for MS severity assessment and identified a low-risk subset of patients with elevated TMG due to high HR or SV. Funding Acknowledgement Type of funding source: None


2021 ◽  
Vol 10 (7) ◽  
pp. 205846012110306
Author(s):  
Mine B Lange ◽  
Lars J Petersen ◽  
Michael B Nielsen ◽  
Helle D Zacho

Background The presence of malignant cells in bone biopsies is considered gold standard to verify occurrence of cancer, whereas a negative bone biopsy can represent a false negative, with a risk of increasing patient morbidity and mortality and creating misleading conclusions in cancer research. However, a paucity of literature documents the validity of negative bone biopsy as an exclusion criterion for the presence of skeletal malignancies. Purpose To investigate the validity of a negative bone biopsy in bone lesions suspicious of malignancy. Material and Method A retrospective cohort of 215 consecutive targeted non-malignant skeletal biopsies from 207 patients (43% women, 57% men, median age 64, and range 94) representing suspicious focal bone lesions, collected from January 1, 2011, to July 31, 2013, was followed over a 2-year period to examine any additional biopsy, imaging, and clinical follow-up information to categorize the original biopsy as truly benign, malignant, or equivocal. Standard deviations and 95% confidence intervals were calculated. Results 210 of 215 biopsies (98%; 95% CI 0.94–0.99) showed to be truly benign 2 years after initial biopsy. Two biopsies were false negatives (1%; 95% CI 0.001–0.03), and three were equivocal (lack of imaging description). Conclusion Our study documents negative bone biopsy as a valid criterion for the absence of bone metastasis. Since only 28% had a confirmed diagnosis of prior cancer and not all patients received adequately sensitive imaging, our results might not be applicable to all cancer patients with suspicious bone lesions.


2020 ◽  
Vol 22 (Supplement_3) ◽  
pp. iii385-iii386
Author(s):  
Claudia Madrigal-Avila ◽  
Alfonso Perez-Bañuelos ◽  
Rafael Ruvalcaba-Sanchez ◽  
Lourdes Vega-Vega ◽  
Gabriela Escamilla-Asiain

Abstract BACKGROUND Central nervous system (CNS) tumors are the most common solid neoplasms in the pediatric age, they comprise about a quarter of all cancers at this age. Little is known about the specific epidemiology of this group in Mexico and there are no reports of results focused on the Performance Status of patients who are treated in a multidisciplinary setting. OBJECTIVE To describe the Performance Status of CNS pediatric patients after being treated with a multidisciplinary approach in a tertiary center. METHODS We report a retrospective chart review of all pediatric patients who presented to the Neuro-Oncology Clinic at Teleton Pediatric Oncology Hospital in Queretaro, Mexico, from December 2014 to January 2020. We analyzed age, gender, the extent of surgical resection and histopathology. Performance Status was assessed using ECOG and Karnofsky/Lansky scores during every patient’s last follow-up visit. RESULTS A total of 56 patients were treated, epidemiology and histopathology variants are similar to those described in the international literature. With a median follow-up of 33 months, 35 patients are alive (62.5%), 28 of them (74.2%) have an excellent Performance Status (ECOG score 0 or Lansky/Karnofsky ≥ 90), 5 (14.2%) scored ECOG 1–2 and only 4 (11.4%) scored ECOG 3–4. CONCLUSIONS A multidisciplinary approach with a focus on Performance Status and the potential for neurological recovery is essential in the management of pediatric patients with CNS tumors. Efforts should be aimed at reducing post-surgical morbidity and early rehabilitation to reintegrate patients into society in the long term.


2020 ◽  
Vol 79 (Suppl 1) ◽  
pp. 644.1-645
Author(s):  
J. H. Kang ◽  
S. E. Choi ◽  
H. Xu ◽  
D. J. Park ◽  
S. S. Lee

Objectives:Although methotrexate (MTX) is the cornerstone therapy in patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA), adherence to MTX in these patients is typically suboptimal. Thus, we investigated the proportion of RA patients who were adherent to MTX and whether non-adherence to MTX affected the clinical outcome in these patients during follow-up.Methods:We enrolled 331 RA patients from a single tertiary center. Data were collected at the time of enrollment and then annually for 4 consecutive years. Adherence was defined by the proportion of days covered at 1 year. Patients were divided into two groups: patients who took more than 80% of MTX and those who did not. Univariate and multivariate analyses were performed to identify the association between drug compliance and clinical outcome.Results:Of the 331 RA patients, 8.7% had taken less than 80% of MTX during the follow-up period. Non-adherent patients had lower EuroQol-5D scores (P=0.013) and higher RAPID3 scores (P=0.004) at baseline than adherent patients. Leflunomide was more commonly prescribed to adherent patients than non-adherent patients (P=0.012). Non-adherent patients had a higher mean Disease Activity Score 28 (DAS28)-erythrocyte sedimentation rate score (P=0.001), higher mean DAS28-C-reactive protein (CRP) score (P=0.001), and higher mean rate of tender and swollen joints (P=0.003 and P=0.002, respectively) than adherent patients. In the multivariate analysis, poor MTX adherence was significantly associated with a higher mean DAS28-CRP score (odds ratio, 0.270; 95% confidence interval, 0.165–0.444; P<0.001).Conclusion:Adherence to MTX can affect disease activity during follow-up in Korean patients with RA. Our results provide a rationale for patient education to maintain good drug adherence in RA patients, to control disease activity.Disclosure of Interests:None declared


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