title: Surgical release of de Quervain's stenosing tenosynovitis postpartum: can it wait?
abstract: We compared the efficacy of conservative management of de Quervain's disease in 30 women postpartum (group 1) and 30 nonpregnant women (group 2). All patients underwent conservative management consisting of 2 weeks of splinting of the affected wrist, followed by physiotherapy and antiinflammatory drugs (NSAIDs). Clinical evaluation was performed using a functional score and the visual analogue scale (VAS) of Scott-Huskinson at entry to the study, 1 month later, and at a follow-up of 6 months. Conservative management gave good results in patients in group 1. At the 6-month follow-up a significant difference between the two groups on pain and function was evident. Only one patient in group 1 versus 25 patients in group 2 underwent surgery because of failure of conservative management.
authors.affiliation: Istituto di Clinica Ortopedica, II Università di Napoli, Naples, Italy.
authors.forename: Giovanni
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Capasso
authors.forename: Vittorino
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Testa
authors.forename: Nicola
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Maffulli
authors.forename: Giovanni
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Turco
authors.forename: Gabriella
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Piluso
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D026741:Physical Therapy Modalities; D049590:Postpartum Period; D013165:Splints; D018709:Statistics, Nonparametric; D013717:Tenosynovitis / Q000601:surgery / Q000628:therapy*; D013997:Time Factors; D016896:Treatment Outcome