Occupational Therapy rehabilitation of postoperative hand injury cases and their functional independency

Occupational Therapy (OT) after revascularization/replant of hand injury is not available in all center. The prevalence of hand injury cases in India from road traffic incidences is about 30% and the total number of hand injuries would go higher upon adding the industrial injury cases. When primary repair isn't possible, tendon reconstruction is done. Kleinert (active extension, passive flexion) is a basic early motion program for rehabilitation of hand injuries. There have been significant innovations in therapy programme in different zones of tendon injuries in past. The aim of this study was to analyze the functional improvement after a postoperative regimen with the use of splints and Occupational Therapy. The objective is to determine the improvement in the Range of Motion (ROM) and muscles strength with Occupational Therapy (OT) along with home-based activities in hand reconstruction cases Design: Thirty-two patients with different tendon injuries were retrospectively enrolled in this study from one and a half year of routinely collected data. Gross grip, fine grip, and range of motion were measured using JAMAR, pinch O meter, and finger goniometer respectively. Statistically and clinically significant improvement was observed in muscle strength (gross and fine) and range of motion in these patients' hands after modified Kleinert splint, custom made splint and home base exercise in all patients (p <0.001 ). With OT, patients with hand reconstruction surgeries can recover their muscle strength and range of motion to a great extent under supervised therapy and make them self independence in all activities. This can be done through the use of simple home-based tools and occupational therapy exercises.