@article{ref1,
title="Long-term functional outcomes after hand burns: a monocentric controlled cohort study",
journal="Journal of clinical medicine",
year="2024",
author="Watzinger, Nikolaus and Hecker, Andrzej and Petschnig, David and Tran, Jana and Glantschnig, Caroline and Moshammer, Maximilian and Pignet, Anna-Lisa and Ellersdorfer, Anna-Maria and Kamolz, Lars-Peter",
volume="13",
number="12",
pages="e3509-e3509",
abstract="BACKGROUND: Hand burns are involved in 80-90% of severe burn injuries. Even though hands correspond to a small total burn surface area (TBSA) of less than 5%, the loss of their functionality has a significant impact on the patient's life. Studies that provide long-term results regarding hand functionality after hand burns are scarce. Therefore, this study aimed to investigate functional long-term results in a patient-centric approach regarding burn depth, unilateral and bilateral hand involvement, and (non-)isolated hand burns as potential influencing factors in patients with hand burns. <br><br>METHODS: We conducted a controlled cohort study of patients with burned hands treated at our department between 2005 and 2022. Healthy age-, sex-, and handedness-matched participants were used as controls. Data on the demographics, burn-related injuries, and treatments were collected. For a patient-centric approach, we used the Disabilities of the Arm, Shoulder, and Hand Questionnaire (Quick-DASH) and the Michigan Hand Questionnaire (MHQ) as patient-reported outcome measures for functional long-term evaluation, and the Patient and Observer Scar Assessment Scale (patient scale) for assessing long-term scar quality. <br><br>RESULTS: We enrolled 61 patients with 88 affected hands and 63 matched control participants. Up to 77.1% of the participants were male, with a mean age of 50.7 (±15.5) years and a follow-up of 8.1 (±4.7) years. The mean TBSA was 13.9% (±15.8), with 72.4% of the hands presenting with deep partial-thickness and full-thickness burns and most of the patients had only one hand affected (55.7%). The hand burn patients perceived significantly worse long-term functional scores in every domain of the MHQ as well as in the &quot;overall function&quot; and &quot;work&quot; of the Quick-DASH. Superficial hand burns negatively affected the two-handed activities of daily living (p = 0.013) and aesthetic appearance (p = 0.005) when both hands were involved. Isolated hand burns were associated with more difficulties in work performance (p = 0.03), whereas patients with bilateral hand involvement perceived more pain (p = 0.025). <br><br>CONCLUSIONS: The patients with hand burns can achieve satisfactory long-term functional outcomes over time, but they do not reach the same long-term hand functionality as the healthy matched control group. Our study revealed that factors such as burn depth, unilateral or bilateral hand involvement, and (non-)isolated hand burns indeed have an impact on certain aspects of perceived long-term hand functionality.<p /> <p>Language: en</p>",
language="en",
issn="2077-0383",
doi="10.3390/jcm13123509",
url="http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/jcm13123509"
}