Ultrasonographic assessment of flexor tendon mobilization: effect of different protocols on tendon excursion.

Background: Different mobilization protocols have been proposed for rehabilitation after hand flexor tendon repair to provide tendon excursion sufficient to prevent adhesions. Several cadaver studies have shown that the position of the neighboring fingers influences tendon excursions of the injured finger. We hypothesized that the positions of adjacent fingers influence the long finger flexor digitorum profundus tendon excursion, measured both absolutely and relative to the surrounding tissue of the tendon.

Non-invasive measurement of tendon excursion with a colour Doppler imaging system: a reliability study in healthy subjects.

The excursion of the flexor digitorum profundus tendon during active flexion of the third finger was measured with colour Doppler imaging in 10 healthy volunteers. Repeated measurements were made by one observer in three sessions to assess the test-retest reliability. An analysis of variance (ANOVA) was done to find out the multiple sources of measurement error.

Reliability of tendon excursion measurements in patients using a color Doppler imaging system.

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to assess the test-retest reliability of tendon excursion measurements with color Doppler imaging in patients with flexor tendon injuries following a modified Kleinert protocol.

Methods: One observer performed repeated measurements at 3 different time periods in 13 patients with flexor tendon injuries, following a modified Kleinert protocol. The intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC), the standard error of measurement (SEM), and related indices of measurement error were calculated.

Strength of the intrinsic muscles of the hand measured with a hand-held dynamometer: reliability in patients with ulnar and median nerve paralysis.

The aim of this study was to assess the reliability of a technique to measure the strength of the intrinsic hand muscles. Intraclass Correlation Coefficients showed an excellent level of reliability for the comparison of muscle strength between groups of patients. However, for the results of individual patients, the calculated Standard Error of Measurements (10-16%) and the Smallest Detectable Differences for intraobserver (31-36%) and interobserver (37-52%) values indicate that only relatively large changes in strength can be confidently detected with this technique.