Importance of using a goniometer in Dupuytren's disease
Abstract
There is currently no definitive therapeutic option for the treatment of Dupuytren's disease - a condition that leads to progressive decrease regarding range of motion of the fingers. Therapeutic decisions made on several occasions for each patient during their lifetime. The disease characterized by joint range of motion values or more precisely the degree of extension deficit. There are a myriad of diseases and post-traumatic conditions of the hand where functions described by the degree of limitation in joint motions to characterize the extent of damage of the healing process itself. Precision or lack there of is dependent on measurement technique – this may well be demonstrated through the example of Dupyutren’s disease, as in the cases therapeutic planning is based in the accurate measurement of progression and recurrences. The use of a goniometer may ensure accurate data collection, but its use is not consistent in clinical practice. The purpose of our study was to assess the degree of inaccuracy when determining joint angles when foregoing the use of a goniometer through the example of Dupuytren's disease. During the data collection, we showed 97 colleagues of different professional experience images depicting contractures, on which the degree of joint flexion had gauged by visual assessment only. Specialists with significant work experience estimated more accurately on average compared to their resident and candidate specialist colleagues, while regarding field of profession, hand surgeons were the most successful. The assessments of colleagues who used a goniometer most often during the examination of patients were more reliable compared to those who never or rarely used this instrument. Abandoning the use of a goniometer leads to inaccuracy. In most cases, precise assessment of the course of the disease (progression, recurrences) is not possible without an instrument, but by visual estimation only, we suggest the use of a goniometer to achieve necessary precision.
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