Observer-reported outcome measures showed that patients ’ driving abilities often are impaired when wearing an immobilizing cast above or below the elbow or a shoulder sling on their dominant arm .
Conclusions The available evidence provides a best-case scenario for when patients can return to driving .
Survey data suggest that patients are returning to driving before observer-reported outcome measures have normalized , indicating that physicians should tell patients to wait longer before driving .
Background Patients often ask their doctors when they can safely return to driving after orthopaedic injuries and procedures , but the data regarding this topic are diverse and sometimes conflicting .
Some studies provide observer-reported outcome measures , such as brake response time or simulators , to estimate when patients can safely resume driving after surgery , and patient survey data describing when patients report a return to driving , but they do not all agree .
We performed a systematic review and quality appraisal for available data regarding when patients are safe to resume driving after common orthopaedic surgeries and injuries affecting the ability to drive .
Questions / purpose sBased on the available evidence , we sought to determine when patients can safely return to driving after ( 1 ) lower extremity orthopaedic surgery and injuries ; ( 2 ) upper extremity orthopaedic surgery and injuries ; and ( 3 ) spine surgery .
Driving with an arm immobilized in a splint: a randomized higher-order crossover trial.
BACKGROUND The aim of this study was to determine whether immobilization of an arm has detrimental effects on driving performance . METHODS Thirty-six healthy officers-in-training were assigned a sequence of fiberglass splints ( left and right-sided above-the-elbow thumb spica and below-the-elbow splints ) with use of a r and omized higher-order crossover design . Runs were scored on a cone-marked driving course used for officer certification with predetermined passing requirements . Driving time , the number of cones hit per course section , and the cone-adjusted total time ( a five-second penalty per hit cone ) were recorded . A linear mixed-effect model with r and om environmental and learning effects for cone-adjusted time analysis was used . Participants rated perceived driving difficulty and safety with each splint , and ratings were compared with the Wilcoxon signed-rank test . RESULTS Thirty participants completed the entire set of runs . Analysis of total cone-adjusted time revealed a significant performance decrease with the left arm in an above-the-elbow thumb spica splint ( average , 22.2 seconds ; p < 0.001 ) and with the left arm in a below-the-elbow splint ( average , 16.2 ; p = 0.007 ) . Analysis of forward-only course sections revealed poorer performance trends with all splints , with the worst performance with the left arm in an above-the-elbow thumb spica splint . Driving with the left arm in an above-the-elbow thumb spica splint had the highest perceived difficulty ( median , 8.0 ) and lowest perceived safety ( median , 3.0 ) . CONCLUSIONS Driving performance as measured with a st and ardized track and scoring system was significantly de grade d with splint immobilization of the left arm . Further studies are required to determine the effect of arm immobilization on normal driving conditions
Observer-reported outcome measures showed that patients ’ driving abilities often are impaired when wearing an immobilizing cast above or below the elbow or a shoulder sling on their dominant arm .
Conclusions The available evidence provides a best-case scenario for when patients can return to driving .
Survey data suggest that patients are returning to driving before observer-reported outcome measures have normalized , indicating that physicians should tell patients to wait longer before driving .
Background Patients often ask their doctors when they can safely return to driving after orthopaedic injuries and procedures , but the data regarding this topic are diverse and sometimes conflicting .
Some studies provide observer-reported outcome measures , such as brake response time or simulators , to estimate when patients can safely resume driving after surgery , and patient survey data describing when patients report a return to driving , but they do not all agree .
We performed a systematic review and quality appraisal for available data regarding when patients are safe to resume driving after common orthopaedic surgeries and injuries affecting the ability to drive .
Questions / purpose sBased on the available evidence , we sought to determine when patients can safely return to driving after ( 1 ) lower extremity orthopaedic surgery and injuries ; ( 2 ) upper extremity orthopaedic surgery and injuries ; and ( 3 ) spine surgery .