An evaluation of wrist and forearm range of motion during purposeful activities and exercises for distal radius fracture
Filed under Reviews
An evaluation of wrist and forearm movement during purposeful activities and range of movement exercises after surgical repair of a distal radius fracture: A randomized crossover study
Collis, J., Mayland, E., Wright-St Clair, V., Rashid, U., Kayes, N., & Signal, N. 2022. An evaluation of wrist and forearm movement during purposeful activities and range of movement exercises after surgical repair of a distal radius fracture: A randomized crossover study, Journal of Hand Therapy, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jht.2022.07.009
The Skinny
This study investigated how range of motion exercises compared to purposeful activities impact rehabilitation of postoperative distal radius fractures and the movement patterns of the wrist each of the interventions produces.

In the Weeds
Thirty-five adults with a surgical repair of a distal radius fracture participated in two ten-minute intervention sessions, including range of motion exercises and meaningful activities that each participant chose the previous day. Electrogoniometers were used to measure four different movement patterns of the wrist during the interventions. These included accumulated joint position over time, maximum active end range, numbers of repetitions, and excursions beyond 75% of available ROM and percentage of active movement time.

Bringing it Home
The purposeful activities required more repetitions, time of movement, and range of movement when compared to range of motion exercises only. The range of motion exercises was significant in providing more accumulation of joint position and end range of movement with supination. These findings suggest that along with other psychosocial benefits of purposeful activities used as therapeutic interventions, these activities also require the affected wrist to move in greater ranges of motion for a longer amount of time, which increases the repetition of wrist movement. This is important for the beginning phases of postoperative rehabilitation for distal radius fractures.
Rating
⅘
Due to the study’s small sample size, the evidence cannot be generalizable. However, this study provided helpful insight for hand therapists to incorporate purposeful and meaningful activities into treatment for the commonly seen diagnosis of distal radius fractures. This article also encourages more research to be done regarding purposeful activities in hand therapy practice.
More To Read
Why Burnout Happens in Hand Therapy and What We Can Do About It.
Why Burnout Happens in Hand Therapy There are several reasons why burnout can occur, this is especially true for healthcare workers. What We Can Do About It Final Thought:Burnout isn’t a personal failure, it is often a systemic issue. But we do have power over how we respond. As hand therapists, we are experts at…
Hand Therapy Interventions for Distal Upper Extremity Injuries and Conditions
Takata, S.C., Wade, E.T., & Roll, S.C. (2019). Hand therapy interventions, outcomes, and diagnoses evaluated over the last 10 years: A mapping review linking research to practice. Journal of Hand Therapy, 32(1), 1–9. Written by Brittany Carrie The Skinny Approximately 26.9% of orthopedic injuries and disorders of the upper extremity occur worldwide. Injuries are most…
Which is better: Splinting the MCP or PIP joint when managing Trigger Finger?
Teo, S. H., Ng D. C., Wong, Y.K.(2018). Effectiveness of proximal interphalangeal joint blocking orthosis vs metacarpophalangeal joint blocking orthosis in trigger digit: A randomized clinical trial. Journal of Hand Therapy, 1-7. The Skinny- This study compared PIP joint immobilization via an Oval-8TM with a custom MCP blocking trigger finger orthosis treatment. In the Weeds…
Top 5 Hand Therapy Toys for Kids
Many therapists in hand therapy clinics have a lot of tools for their adult patients, but may not have as many tools for the less common pediatric patient. With nearly 20 years experience in pediatrics, we’ve compiled a list of our top 5 picks for tools to use with pediatric patients in hand therapy. We…
Sign-up to Get Updates Straight to Your Inbox!
Sign up with us and we will send you regular blog posts on everything hand therapy, notices every time we upload new videos and tutorials, along with handout, protocols, and other useful information.