Results of acute zone III extensor tendon injuries treated with dynamic extension splinting.

Motivated by the favorable results of dynamic splinting in the treatment of more proximal extensor tendon injuries, we explored the use of dynamic splinting in the treatment of zone III extensor tendon lacerations. Twenty-two tendon repairs in 19 patients were available for review. On the basis of degree of extension lag and pulp-to-palm distance, 14 repairs were rated as excellent, 6 as good, and 2 as fair. Using total active motion at 10 weeks, the proximal interphalangeal and distal interphalangeal joints averaged 170 degrees. There was one mild boutonniere deformity. The results of this prospective study show that carefully monitored dynamic splinting is safe in the treatment of zone III lacerations. When results were compared with the results of our method of static splinting used prior to this prospective study, patients returned to full activities with good-to-excellent results 8 weeks earlier instead of at 16 to 18 weeks.

Complications experienced in the rehabilitation of zone I flexor tendon injuries with dynamic traction splinting.

A retrospective review of all flexor tendon repairs done between January 1985 to June 1987 determined the complication rate with our method of rehabilitation. One hundred sixty-three flexor tendon lacerations in 83 patients were reviewed. Follow-up ranged from 6 to 42 months. All patients participated in the same 12-week rehabilitation protocol. All patients had passive motion exercises of the interphalangeal joints in the first 2 weeks. We believe that passive stretching of zone I injuries during the first 2 weeks contributed to the zone I complication rate. Of the 20 patients with zone I tendon-to-tendon repairs, 7 patients had significant complications. The 35% complication rate found with zone I injuries has prompted us to modify our postoperative rehabilitation protocol in zone I injuries.

Further experience in rehabilitation of zone II flexor tendon repair with dynamic traction splinting.

A review of all flexor tendon repairs in the "no man's land" performed from January of 1985 to June of 1987 was done to evaluate the efficacy of our method of rehabilitation. There were 60 fingers (57 patients) with complete laceration of the flexor digitorum profundus and flexor digitorum superficialis tendons in zone II. Fingers with phalangeal fractures, joint injuries, or significant skin loss were excluded. Follow-up ranged from 12 to 48 months. Rehabilitation consisted of a 12-week protocol using the U.S. military combined regimen of controlled motion. Features from the technique of controlled active extension against rubber band passive flexion as well as those of controlled passive extension and passive flexion were incorporated. The palmar pulley modification of Kleinert's dynamic traction splint was utilized. Strickland's total active motion formula was employed to determine results. The results were classified into the four categories of excellent, good, fair, and poor. Fifty-two fingers (86 percent) were rated excellent, 4 fingers (7 percent) were rated good, 1 finger (2 percent) was rated fair, and 3 fingers (5 percent) were rated poor.