The Journal of hand surgery
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Randomized clinical trials can provide strong evidence regarding effective treatment options. The quality of reporting and the type of outcome measures used are important when judging whether results justify change in clinical practice. The aim of this study was to assess the quality of reporting of randomized clinical trials related to treatment of upper-extremity disorders, published in 4 hand surgical and orthopedic journals during an 11-year period, and assess the type of outcome measures used in the trials. ⋯ There is a need to improve the quality of reporting of upper-extremity randomized clinical trials and to increase the use of outcome measures covering different aspects of disability.
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Clinical Trial Controlled Clinical Trial
Ultrasound for the early diagnosis of clinically suspected scaphoid fracture.
To test the ability of ultrasound to diagnose clinically suspected occult scaphoid fractures. ⋯ We recommend that high-frequency ultrasound be used to investigate occult suspected scaphoid fractures because of its ability to allow early diagnosis and to eliminate the need for a more invasive or expensive diagnostic test in most cases.
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Advanced stages of nerve compression are likely to result in irreversible intraneural changes including intrinsic fibrosis and axon loss, and advanced age is expected to compromise nerve regeneration and recovery. Although satisfactory outcomes have been reported we hypothesized that carpal tunnel release in an elderly population with advanced carpal tunnel disease might not significantly improve symptom severity, functional status, or grip strength compared with before surgery. Our purpose was to evaluate these 3 parameters both before and after surgery to assess the efficacy of surgical intervention. ⋯ Carpal tunnel release is unlikely to result in a total elimination of symptoms and complete restoration of function when performed in elderly patients with advanced disease. Although grip strength did not improve at final follow-up evaluation, symptom severity and functional status did improve from the patient's perspective. We conclude that carpal tunnel release is efficacious in this subset of patients.
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Comparative Study
The accuracy of high-resolution ultrasound for evaluating focal lesions of the hand and wrist.
Although several articles have described the sonographic features of solid and cystic lesions of the hand and wrist, few have investigated its accuracy for diagnosing such lesions. The purposes of this retrospective study were to determine the accuracy of sonography for diagnosing focal lesions of the hand and wrist against the standard of histologic examination of the resected specimen and to compare the accuracy of sonography against the recorded initial clinical impression. ⋯ Ultrasound was statistically more accurate than the initial clinical impression for distinguishing solid from cystic lesions of the hand and wrist. Ultrasound was very accurate for specifically diagnosing ganglions and slightly less for solid lesions and tenosynovitis.
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To describe a variant of Barton's volar articular shearing fracture of the distal radial articular surface with a subtle concomitant fracture of the dorsal metaphyseal cortex. ⋯ Some fractures with an oblique volar marginal articular fracture of the distal radius and volar radiocarpal subluxation (known as Barton's fracture) may also have a fracture through the dorsal metaphyseal cortex. Failure to identify this fracture line can lead to dorsal translation and angulation of the distal radius articular surface, particularly when an undercontoured volar plate is used for internal fixation.