What is the incidence of musculoskeletal complaints in the elbow, shoulder, and neck after hand and forearm injuries?
Filed under Reviews
Winiarski, L. M., Livoni, J. D., Madsen, P. V., Rathleff, M. S., & Larsen, P. (2021). Concurrent musculoskeletal complaints in elbows, shoulders, and necks after common hand and forearm injuries or conditions: A cross-sectional study among 600 patients. Journal of hand therapy: official journal of the American Society of Hand Therapists, 34(4), 543–548. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jht.2020.05.002
The Skinny:
The authors looked to determine what the incidence of shoulder elbow and neck pain after sustaining a typical hand and forearm injury. Isolated hand injuries account for 20-29% of hand and forearm injuries in emergency rooms and orthopedic departments. Oftentimes pain associated in the upper quadrant beyond the injury is neglected and ignored. The authors hoped to bring awareness to these concurrent musculoskeletal issues.
In the Weeds:
The authors used a cross-sectional study. The study used patients that were referred to the shoulder elbow hand therapy department for an isolated hand or forearm injury. The patients were asked two basic questions.
1.) do you currently have pain and/or stiffness in the elbow, shoulder, or neck?
If yes then,
2.) did the symptoms develop before or after their hand and forearm injury?
If the patient answered yes to question 1 and stated the symptoms developed after the hand or forearm injury they were included in the study.
Bringing it Home:
The study took place for 15 months and a total of 600 patients met the eligibility requirements. The average age of patients was 49.1 years with the largest diagnostic group being distal radius and ulna fractures, ligament lesions in fingers (16%), finger fractures (14%). The common areas of concurrent pain were the shoulder (62%), elbow (49%), and the neck (32%”). Thirty-eight percent of patient reports multiple areas of musculoskeletal or stiffness in two or three regions of the upper quadrant and neck.
Rating 4/5.
The study brings attention to the continued need to address the entire upper quadrant when a patient sustains a hand, wrist, or forearm injury. In the future, it would be helpful to publish outcomes after addressing the musculoskeletal impairments to help justify the need for occupational and physical therapy services to prevent long-term pathologies.
2 Comments
Leave a Comment
More To Read
The effects of cupping therapy as a new approach in the physiotherapeutic management of carpal tunnel syndrome
Article Review By: Rachel Reed Mohammadi, S., Roostayi, M. M., Naimi, S. S., & Baghban, A. A. (2019). The effects of cupping therapy as a new approach in the physiotherapeutic management of carpal tunnel syndrome. Physiotherapy research international : the journal for researchers and clinicians in physical therapy, 24(3), e1770. https://doi.org/10.1002/pri.1770 The Skinny: The purpose of this…
Rapid Review: Is Finger Splinting Necessary after Flexor Tendon Repair?
Outcome of Flexor Tendon Repair Using Eight-Strand Core Stitch Without Postoperative Finger Splinting Reference: El-Gammal, T. A., Kotb, M. M., Ragheb, Y. F., El-Gammal, Y. T., & Anwar, M. M. (2024). Outcome of Flexor Tendon Repair Using Eight-Strand Core Stitch Without Postoperative Finger Splinting. HAND. https://doi.org/10.1177/15589447231220686 The Skinny: The purpose of this study was to…
The Importance of Purposeful Activities Following Surgical Repair of a Distal RadiusFracture
By: Kelsey Melton Collis, J. M., Mayland, E. C., Wright-St Clair, V., Rashid, U., Kayes, N., & Signal, N.(2022). An evaluation of wrist and forearm movement during purposeful activities andrange of movement exercises after surgical repair of a distal radius fracture: A randomizedcrossover study. Journal of Hand Therapy. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jht.2022.07.009 The Skinny: This randomized crossover study…
What is Chronic Exertional Compartment Syndrome? Overview and Hand Therapy Treatment Ideas
Compartment syndrome is a condition characterized by increased pressure within a compartment of the body, leading to pain, swelling, and reduced tissue perfusion (Barkay et al., 2021; Buerba et al., 2019). It can be either acute or chronic (Barkay et al., 2021). Chronic exertional compartment syndrome (CECS) is a rare type, most commonly observed in…
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.
Thank you for this article. Trying to justify therapy beyond the specific joint a patient is brought in for can be frustrating. We need more research like this.
Great, good article.
At times patients are not necessarily believed and areas of discomfort are neglected. We forget there is fascia, and dermatomes that connect all structures, and will affect above or below the injured site.