Measure the changes of hand therapy intervention protocal for patient with trigger finger at CRP-SAVAR

Abstract

Background: Trigger finger is rare condition in Bangladesh. Now a days it is increasing day by day due to repetitive finger movement, overuse, diabetes etc. As it is very important to develop a comprehensive treatment protocol for patients with Trigger finger. Trigger finger hampered daily living activities and occupation because of severe pain, poor hand function, muscle strength and pinch strength when moving the finger or hand. It is not only a cause of disability, pain may limit self-care, productivity and leisure activities. Occupational therapy is very important to the patient when they have any injury in the hand. Because they have lost their life role and their quality of life for the Trigger Finger. Through occupational therapy, functional activities can be restored through specialized skills and treatment technique. The study protocol can be helpful for upgrading Occupational Therapy services in Bangladesh and promote the professional development. As a result, it is essential to find out the changes of hand therapy intervention after receiving hand therapy service. The protocol of this study guided the hand therapy practitioners to manage their individual’s patients. Objectives of the study: The purpose of this study was to evaluate and find out the effectiveness of treatment protocol for trigger finger patient. Methodology: It was a quasi- experimental, pretest-posttest design of quantitative research. In this research, total 9 participants were selected and data was collected by using convenience sampling method. Patients were allocated for 4 weeks: treatment sessions were applied for the individual patient, the assessment was done again on a post- test on the same group by the same scales and changes between pre and posttest of the same groups were compared. Pain was measured by VAS scale; Hand function was measured by Disabilities of Arm, Shoulder and Hand (DASH) scale; Hand Strength was measured by Jamar Dynamo Meter & Pinch Strength was measured by Pinch Gauze. Result and Discussion: After the 4 weeks intervention of treatment protocol of trigger finger the score of hand function in (DASH) mean pretest 106.33 and posttest 97.33, the score of hand strength in (Jamar Dynamo Meter) mean pretest 5.55 and posttest 8.88, the score of pinch strength in (Pinch Gauze) mean pretest 5.11 and posttest 7.77, the score of pain in (VAS) mean pretest 6.88 and posttest 5.33.In this study, the result shows positive changes in all the parametric area. At the end of the treatment sessions each of the participants had improvements to varying degree. However, the treatment was more effective, especially for the outcomes of decreasing symptom severity, pain reduction and patient satisfaction. The study examined the effectiveness of occupational therapy treatment program for 4 weeks helpful to reduce pain, improve hand strength, pinch strength, and improve hand function. This study should be replicated and prolonged to confirm the validity of findings. Conclusion: Therefore, hypothesis can be proved that the 4 weeks intervention of protocol was effective in treating TF patients resulted in better outcomes. For long term effectiveness, the treatment program should be started as early as possible as part of the best practice for trigger finger patient. Key words: Trigger Finger (TF); Effectiveness; Hand Therapy