Article

Little is known about secondary impairments and overuse problems in
patient with acquired or congenital upper limb deficiency. Our aim
was to estimate the frequency of overuse problems in persons after unilateral
upper limb deficiency and identify the factors relevant for development of these
problems. STUDY DESIGN: Cross-sectional study conducted at the University
Rehabilitation Institute in Ljubljana. METHODS: In total, 65 persons after
unilateral upper limb deficiency who had visited our subspecialist outpatient
clinic during the 2011-2013 period (excluding those with other possible medical
causes of overuse-type problems) were interviewed about the frequency, duration
and severity of neck, elbow and shoulder pain and the presence of carpal tunnel
syndrome and filled in the Orthotics and Prosthetics User Survey-Upper Extremity
Functional Status questionnaire. RESULTS: The most frequent problem was carpal
tunnel syndrome, followed by shoulder pain, neck pain and elbow pain. No
statistically significant association of deficiency level, cause of deficiency,
time since deficiency, extent of daily prosthesis use or type of prosthesis with
frequency or severity of pain or number of problems was found. The presence of
carpal tunnel syndrome decreased from wearing no prosthesis through aesthetic and
body-powered to myoelectric prosthesis (p = 0.014). CONCLUSION: Factors
contributing to overuse problems after upper limb deficiency are not
straightforward, so a large multicentric study is warranted. CLINICAL RELEVANCE:
Persons with acquired or congenital upper limb deficiency are under a heightened
risk of developing overuse problems but the contributing factors are not clear,
so regular individual follow-up is required.
CI - (c) The International Society for Prosthetics and Orthotics 2015.

Langue : ANGLAIS