Surveys of the Efficacy, Technical Difficulty, Ethics, and Dissemination of Splint/Orthosis Fabrication Using Thermoplastic Splint Sheets

抄録

Objective: For splints/orthoses fabricated by therapists during hand therapy to be recognized as a novel specialized medical technology, we demonstrated their ease of dissemination, ethics, safety, and effectiveness. We also investigated the technical difficulty and dissemination of splints/orthoses in a first study on the current situation of splint/orthoses fabrication using thermoplastic splinting sheets, and evaluated the effectiveness, safety, and ethics of splinting sheets in a second study.

Methodology: In the first study, we investigated the name of the target diagnosis, purpose of fabrication, time of fabrication, joints involved, presence or absence of component connections, and fabrication time. In the second study, we investigated basic attributes, explanations and consent, prescriptions, difficulties, and efficacy indicators. The participants were 49 therapists from 46 institutions who completed the academic society-approved seminars in the first and second studies.

Results: The subjects were 31 out of the 49 therapists (response rate: 67.4%), and the target splints were 547. The splints/orthoses were used in daily clinical practice after surgery or immediately after injury, and various splints/orthoses were fabrication according to a specific purpose, even during treatment. Moreover, regarding the difficulty level, the splints/orthoses could be fabrication in a relatively short time by a advanced hand therapist. For instance, 260 (48%) were produced within 20 minutes.

Conclusion: The safety and ethics of the splint/orthoses showed high values, but further objective indicators and subjective data indexing of efficacy are required.