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Efficacy of combined physical and occupational therapy in patients with conservatively treated distal radius fracture: randomized controlled trial

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Summary

Aim

To evaluate the efficacy of combined physical and occupational therapy in comparison with physical therapy alone in patients with conservatively treated distal radius fracture.

Methods

Sixty-one participants, conservatively treated after a distal radius fracture, were included in a randomized and single-blind trial. Group A had physical therapy only (n = 31) and group B had physical and occupational therapy (n = 30). The assessment was performed three times: upon inclusion in the study in the first week after removal of the cast (T1), immediately after the end of the rehabilitation (T2), and 1 month after completing the rehabilitation (T3). The passive wrist range-of-motion, grip strength, and Disabilities of Arm, Shoulder and Hand (DASH) score were used as rehabilitation outcomes.

Results

Rehabilitation outcomes were analyzed using two-way mixed analysis of variance. The effect of time was statistically significant (p < 0.001) for all outcomes. The group (therapy) factor was statistically significant for grip strength only (p = 0.038). The interaction effect was statistically significant for rotation (p = 0.034) and grip strength (p = 0.021). A comparison between time points T3:T1 showed statistically significant difference in grip strength in favor of group B 67 % (95 % CI 60–74 %) versus group A 53 % (95 % CI 45–61 %), p = 0.024.

Conclusion

The combined therapy resulted in a statistically significant increase of grip strength in comparison with isolated physical therapy in the period of 12–16 weeks after the fracture. This effectiveness was not confirmed with DASH score results.

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Acknowledgment

The authors would like to thank Dušan Čelan, M.D., for his contribution during the initial search and the assessment of the abstracts and studies.

Conflict of interest

The authors declare that there is no conflict of interest.

Ethical standards statement

All procedures followed were in accordance with the ethical standards of the responsible committee on human experimentation (institutional and national) and with the Helsinki Declaration of 1975, as revised in 2008.

Informed consent

Informed consent was obtained from all patients for being included in the study.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Physical and Rehabilitation Medicine Service, Murska Sobota General Hospital, Rakičan, Ul. dr. Vrbnjaka 6, 9000, Murska Sobota, Slovenia

    Verica Filipova MD

  2. Institute of Physical and Rehabilitation Medicine, University Clinical Centre Maribor, Ljubljanska ul. 5, 2000, Maribor, Slovenia

    Dragan Lonzarić MD & Breda Jesenšek Papež MD, PhD

  3. Faculty of Medicine, Department of Physical and Rehabilitation Medicine, University of Maribor, Taborska ul. 6, 2000, Maribor, Slovenia

    Dragan Lonzarić MD & Breda Jesenšek Papež MD, PhD

Authors
  1. Verica Filipova MD
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  2. Dragan Lonzarić MD
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  3. Breda Jesenšek Papež MD, PhD
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Correspondence to Dragan Lonzarić MD.

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Filipova, V., Lonzarić, D. & Jesenšek Papež, B. Efficacy of combined physical and occupational therapy in patients with conservatively treated distal radius fracture: randomized controlled trial. Wien Klin Wochenschr 127 (Suppl 5), 282–287 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00508-015-0812-9

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00508-015-0812-9

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