title: Conservative treatment using a newly designed custom-made wrist splint for ulnocarpal abutment syndrome.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Immobilization of the wrist joint with a splint is an established approach for ulnar-sided pain due to ulnocarpal abutment syndrome. However, patients have a tendency to stop wearing the splints because of its inconvenience and there have been no reports based on splint therapy.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  We investigated the usefulness of a newly designed custom-made aluminum splint for ulnar-sided wrist pain.
  
  
  METHODS
  This was a cohort study of the aluminum splint therapy for the patients who had been primarily treated with a conventional splint but ceased to use it because of the inconvenience in activities of daily living.
  
  
  METHODS
  The subjects included 10 female patients (mean age = 44.2 years). The outcome was assessed using the visual analogue scale score for pain, the disabilities of the arm, shoulder and hand score, range of motion of the wrist, and the grip strength. The mean follow-up period after wearing the aluminum splint was 8.8 months.
  
  
  RESULTS
  All parameters, including the visual analogue scale pain and disabilities of the arm, shoulder and hand scores, improved significantly (p < 0.05) following use of the aluminum splint relative to the pretreatment scores. Seven patients continued to use the aluminum splint, and three of the seven had complete remission from related pain.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Constant use of the aluminum splint during the study period was associated with improvement in the ulnar-sided wrist pain scores, which reconfirmed that increased adherence to splint use in daily activities is an important intentional behavioral strategy.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Although the custom splint is effective for alleviation of wrist pain in ulnocarpal abutment syndrome, continuity of splint use is a key element of conservative treatment. This study showed that a splint that patients were willing to wear in their daily life was a useful device for alleviation of pain.
authors.affiliation: Department of Orthopaedic Surgery, Shonan Central Hospital, Fujisawa, Kanagawa, Japan Department of Orthopaedics, Tokai University School of Medicine, Isehara, Kanagawa, Japan m.ikeda@swg.or.jp.
authors.forename: Masayoshi
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Ikeda
authors.affiliation: Department of Orthopaedics, Tokai University School of Medicine, Isehara, Kanagawa, Japan.
authors.forename: Yuka
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Kobayashi
authors.affiliation: Department of Orthopaedics, Tokai University School of Medicine, Isehara, Kanagawa, Japan.
authors.forename: Ikuo
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Saito
authors.affiliation: Department of Orthopaedics, Tokai University School of Medicine, Isehara, Kanagawa, Japan.
authors.forename: Takayuki
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Ishii
authors.affiliation: Department of Orthopaedics, Tokai University School of Medicine, Isehara, Kanagawa, Japan.
authors.forename: Ayuko
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Shimizu
authors.affiliation: Department of Orthopaedics, Tokai University School of Medicine, Isehara, Kanagawa, Japan.
authors.forename: Joji
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Mochida
mesh_terms: D000203:Activities of Daily Living; D000328:Adult; D000535:Aluminum; D018771:Arthralgia / Q000503:physiopathology / Q000534:rehabilitation; D015331:Cohort Studies; D004867:Equipment Design; D005260:Female; D018737:Hand Strength; D006801:Humans; D007564:Japan; D008875:Middle Aged; D010147:Pain Measurement; D057285:Precision Medicine / Q000379:methods*; D011379:Prognosis; D016059:Range of Motion, Articular / Q000502:physiology; D012720:Severity of Illness Index; D016896:Treatment Outcome; D017769:Ulnar Nerve Compression Syndromes / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000534:rehabilitation*; D014955:Wrist Joint / Q000503:physiopathology
chemical_list: D000535:Aluminum
keywords: Custom-made aluminum wrist splint; splint; ulnocarpal abutment syndrome; wrist brace