Journal of Burn Care & Research | 2021
104 A Quality Improvement Project to Reduce Orthoses Complications
Abstract
\n \n \n Anatomical structures of the hand are complex and delicate making hand burns particularly challenging to manage. Orthoses are a cornerstone treatment modality and unsuccessful therapeutic interventions can result in hand contracture and deformities, which can result in up to 95% impairment in upper extremity function. Therapists at our burn center have varying degrees of education and credentials, and we had noticed increased incidence of orthotic induced complications in the hand. The purpose of this QI project was to implement a formal protocol that provided guidelines around fabricating and fitting hand orthoses.\n \n \n \n The protocol mandated that custom fabricated resting hand orthoses should be fabricated by a single CHT or co-fabricated by two (non-CHT) therapists. Orthoses were fabricated as indicated. Orthosis modifications and orthosis complications, defined as erythema and/or an orthotic induced partial-thickness injury to the volar second metacarpal head (index finger) were documented. For the purposes of our study, breakdown was limited to the index finger. These modifications and complication totals were compared to pre-implementation data. Any patient with missing data points was excluded.\n \n \n \n Seventy-seven patient hands were examined from 2016–2019. Prior to implementation of the protocol, erythema occurred with 23.4% (n=18) of orthoses and orthosis induced partial thickness injury was found in 11.7% (n=9) of cases. Post protocol implementation involved examination of 51 hands. Erythema occurred in just 2.0% of cases (n=1) and partial thickness injury in 3.9% of cases (n=2) This represents a decrease of 94.4% and 77.7%, respectively. Number of modifications was reduced by 40.9%, from 22 to 13.\n \n \n \n Orthosis fabrication is a specialized therapy skill, requiring hands-on training and advanced anatomical knowledge. While orthotic fabrication is part of general therapy education, the depth and breadth of this education is limited by the clinical opportunities presented to each therapist. CHT’s have undergone rigorous study and testing to make them experts in orthosis management and can bolster skills in a burn therapy department. For therapists without this specialty certification, co-fabrication can also lead to improved outcomes, through real time peer review. Data from this QI project showed a statistically significant decrease in erythema and decrease in breakdown and number of modifications needed from utilization of either a CHT or two therapists when managing hand orthoses.\n