Clinical guidelines and pathways for the management of non-traumatic wrist disorders: A review and synthesis

Journal article : Review

IntroductionNon-traumatic wrist disorders (NTWD) are commonly encountered across a range of healthcare settings. Uncertainty exists regarding optimal management and how this is reflected in care provision through clinical guidelines and pathways. We aimed to identify existing UK-based clinical guidelines and pathways and examine their quality.MethodsFor this review, we searched MEDLINE, PubMed, Embase, CINAHL, ProQuest, Scopus, Web of Science, Google, The National Grey Literature Collection, TRIP, and the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence and undertook targeted outreach and engagement activities with healthcare professional networks. We included clinical practice guidelines and pathways for NTWD published after 2010. The AGREE II tool was used to assess guideline quality based on the domains of topic selection, best practice identification, data collection, and rigor of analysis.ResultsOf 7017 records identified, 15 eligible clinical guidelines and pathways for NTWD management were eligible and included. De Quervain's tenosynovitis and ganglion cyst were most frequently covered while other NTWD had few or no guidelines or pathways. Variation in the composition and nomenclature of sources was found. Quality assessment using the AGREE II tool identified variability and overall unsatisfactory quality.ConclusionThere is a lack of high-quality clinical guidelines and pathways for NTWD within the UK healthcare system indicating an obstacle to improvements in healthcare delivery.

Authors: Mitchell, T; Palmer, J; Borkar, S; Gajwani, G; Tomy, S

• Publication status: Published
• Peer review status: Peer reviewed
• Publisher: SAGE Publications
• Journal: Hand Therapy
• Pages: 17589983261422467
• Article number: 17589983261422467
• Publication date: 2026-02-19
• Acceptance date: 2026-01-25
• DOI: 10.1177/17589983261422467
• EISSN: 1758-9991
• ISSN: 1758-9983
• Pmid: 41727348
• Language: English
• Keywords: Quality; Clinical practice; Scoping Review; Conservative Management; Non-traumatic; Wrist Pain; Wrist Injury
• Subtype: Review