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 reaction time before and after surgery for disc herniation in patients with preoperative paresis.
BACKGROUND CONTEXT The effect of many types of surgeries on driving reaction time ( DRT ) has been reported . Although lumbar disc herniation is one of the most common spinal diseases , the effect on DRT has not been investigated . PURPOSE To assess the effect of left- and right-sided pareses caused by lumbar disc herniation on DRT before and after surgery . STUDY DESIGN Controlled prospect i ve clinical trial . PATIENT SAMPLE Patients undergoing disc surgery .  OUTCOME MEASURES Impact of paresis caused by lumbar disc herniation and disc surgery on DRT . METHODS Forty-two consecutive patients ( mean age , 50.3 years ) were tested for  DRT  1 day before surgery , postoperatively before hospital discharge , and 5 weeks after surgery . Visual analogue scale ( VAS ) for back and leg pain as well as pain medication and patients ' driving frequency were recorded . RESULTS Significant improvement of DRT after surgery was seen in patients with left- and right-sided pareses ( p<.005 ) . For the right-sided paresis group , the preoperative DRT was 761 ms ( median , interquartile range [ IQR ] : 490 ) , 711 ms ( median , IQR : 210 ) immediately postoperatively , and 645 ms ( median , IQR : 150 ) at follow-up ( FU ) . For the left-sided paresis group , DRT was 651 ms ( median , IQR : 270 ) preoperatively , 592 ms ( median , IQR : 260 ) postoperatively , and 569 ms ( median , IQR : 140 ) at FU . Significant differences between right- and left-sided pareses were identified preoperatively and at FU testing ( p<.005 ) . No correlation was found between VAS for leg or back pain and DRT . Historical control subjects had a DRT of 487 ( median , IQR : 116 ) , which differed significantly at all three test times ( p<.001 ) . CONCLUSIONS A significant reduction in DRT in patients with right- and left-sided pareses was found after surgery , indicating a positive effect of surgery . The improvement in DRT seen immediately postoperatively and the lack of a generally accepted threshold for DRT would suggest that for both patient sample s , it is safe to continue driving after hospital discharge . However , patients should be informed accordingly
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 .