Ultrasonographic Analysis of Post-Traumatic Shoulder Lesions After Hand Trauma

Hand injuries constitute one fifth of the injuries that are brought to the emergency room and one third of the work accidents. They are very costly because they require surgical intervention and a long rehabilitation process and delay the patient's return to work. The general tendency in hand rehabilitation is to focus more on treatments focused on the hand and wrist.

There are studies that draw attention to the relationship between hand grip strength and rotator cuff function and that other upper extremity musculoskeletal injuries are often neglected in patients with hand injuries. This may affect rehabilitation results and prevent the patient from returning to daily activities.

It is reported that in patients with hand and wrist injuries, other upper extremity musculoskeletal problems are seen simultaneously in 40% of cases and most of these are related to the shoulder.

It is reported that rotator cuff problems and lateral epicondylitis are 9 times more common even in carpal tunnel syndrome, which is a relatively simple hand problem that is encountered very frequently in clinical practice.

Traumatic hand injuries can also affect all upper extremity functions. In these patients, it was determined that there was weakness in both the ipsilateral supraspinatus and infraspinatus muscles. The researchers emphasized that the inclusion of shoulder muscle training during the postoperative rehabilitation protocol and selective strengthening of the rotator cuff muscles in distal extremity problems may be clinically important.

In studies conducted to detect shoulder problems in patients with hand injuries, either patient examination or self-reports of the patients have been used so far.

In this study, the investigators aimed to concretely reveal shoulder pathologies by evaluating the results of diagnostic ultrasonography performed on our patients with shoulder symptoms. In this way, the investigators aimed to obtain a clearer result on whether the shoulder should be included in the hand rehabilitation program.

Our study is the first study to evaluate shoulder pathologies in patients with hand injuries with diagnostic ultrasonography.

Inclusion criteria

• Having a history of hand injury and applying for hand rehabilitation after surgical and conservative treatment.

Exclusion criteria

• Being under 18 and over 65 years of age
• Patients with systemic diseases (Diabetes mellitus, Peripheral vascular diseases)
• Any rheumatic disease involving the hand and upper extremity
• History of neuropathy involving the hand and upper extremity
• Those with any shoulder problems prior to the hand injury
• Those with an open wound on the hand
• Those who cannot cooperate
• Other upper extremity traumatic injuries occurring during the hand injury