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 .
The effect of shoulder immobilization on driving performance.
BACKGROUND The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effect of sling immobilization on driving performance with use of a driving simulator . METHODS This is a prospect i ve trial with a cohort of 21 healthy volunteers comparing their driving ability with and without sling immobilization on their dominant ( driving ) extremity . Multiple variables , including number of collisions , off-road excursions , and centerline crossings , were measured with a vali date d driving simulator . Trials were separated by 2 weeks to control for " adaptations " to the simulator . Statistical significance was found in collisions between sling and no-sling tests . RESULTS The total number of collisions for trial 1 ( no sling ) was 36 ( mean , 1.7 ± 1.2 ) compared with 73 ( 3.7 ± 1.6 ) ( P < .01 ) for trial 2 ( sling immobilization ) . Approximately 70 % of participants with upper extremity immobilization were involved in ≥3 collisions ; approximately 70 % of no-sling participants were involved in ≤2 collisions . There was no statistically significant difference between groups with respect to overall vehicle road position and control . CONCLUSION Sling immobilization of the dominant driving arm results in a decrease in driving performance and safety with respect to the number of collisions in a simulated driving circuit ( P < .01 ) . There were no significant differences in driving parameters that are indicative of overall vehicle position and control . The decrease in driving performance with respect to the number of collisions is likely to be related to the effect the immobilized arm has on effectively performing evasive maneuvers during hazardous 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 .