Abstract

Rehabilitation after surgical treatment of Dupuytren’s contractures is a necessary element of therapeutic procedures. The authors describe how vibroacoustic therapy alone and combined with laser treatment influence the total active motion and pain in patients after surgical treatment of Dupuytren’s contractures.The sample included twenty patients who had undergone surgical treatment of Dupuytren’s con­tractures. The subjects were divides into two groups of 10 persons. The first group was subjected to postoperative laser treat­ment combined with vibroacoustic therapy and the second group underwent only vibroacoustic therapy. Before and after reha­bilitation, the range of movement in finger joints was measured and pain was assessed using Laitinen questionnaireand VAS scales. The authors found that vibroacoustic therapy reduced pain and improved the total active motion of the upper limb after surgical intervention. The additional application of laser treatment was found to significantly enhance the effect of vibroacoustic therapy, improving the obtained range of movements in the operated joints, on average by 1.4 cm. Vibroacoustic therapy alone and combined with laser treatment is effective in postoperative rehabilitation of patients with Dupuytren’s contractures.

Key words:

Dupuytren’s disease, postoperative rehabilitation, vibroacoustic therapy, total active range of motion