Journal article
Conservative management of mallet injuries: A national survey of current practice in the UK
- Abstract:
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Introduction
Mallet injuries are common, and usually treated conservatively. Various systematic reviews have found a lack of evidence regarding best management and it is unclear whether this uncertainty is reflected in current UK practice.
Methods
An online survey was developed to determine current practice for the conservative treatment of mallet injury amongst specialist hand clinicians in the UK, including physiotherapists, occupational therapists and surgeons. Clinician’s views of study outcome selection were also explored to improve future trials.
Results
336 professionals completed the survey. Inconsistency in overall practice was observed in splint type choice, time to discharge to GP, and the assessment of adherence. Greater consistency was observed for recommended duration of continuous immobilisation. Bony injuries were most commonly splinted for six weeks (n=228, 78%) and soft tissue injuries for either eight weeks (n=172, 56%) or six weeks (n=119, 39%). Postimmobilisation splinting was frequently recommended, but duration varied between two and 10 weeks. The outcome rated as most important by all clinicians was patient satisfaction.
Discussion
There is overall variation in the current UK conservative management of mallet injuries, and the development of a standardised, evidence based protocol is required. Clinicians’ opinions may be used to develop a core set of outcome measures, which will improve standardisation and comparability of future trials.
- Publication status:
- Published
- Peer review status:
- Peer reviewed
Actions
Access Document
- Files:
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(Preview, Accepted manuscript, pdf, 282.6KB, Terms of use)
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- Publisher copy:
- 10.1016/j.bjps.2017.04.009
Authors
- Publisher:
- Elsevier
- Journal:
- Journal of Plastic, Reconstructive & Aesthetic Surgery More from this journal
- Volume:
- 70
- Issue:
- 7
- Pages:
- 901-907
- Publication date:
- 2017-04-23
- Acceptance date:
- 2017-04-14
- DOI:
- EISSN:
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1878-0539
- ISSN:
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1748-6815
- Pmid:
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28511813
- Language:
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English
- Keywords:
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- Pubs id:
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pubs:695731
- UUID:
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uuid:c07e0ec1-9c26-44c3-a451-480129ec5f66
- Local pid:
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pubs:695731
- Source identifiers:
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695731
- Deposit date:
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2018-05-24
Terms of use
- Copyright holder:
- Crown Copyright
- Copyright date:
- 2017
- Notes:
- Crown Copyright © 2017 Published by Elsevier Ltd on behalf of British Association of Plastic, Reconstructive and Aesthetic Surgeons. All rights reserved. This is the accepted manuscript version of the article. The final version is available online from Elsevier at: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.bjps.2017.04.009
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