Well-arm Exercise in Distal Radius Fractures

Study Overview
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Brief Summary
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A single center randomized control study. Patients >18 years with isolated distal radius fractures treated non-operatively will be randomly assigned to either the treatment group (exercise of contralateral well arm) or control group (standard fracture care and rehabilitation).

Detailed Description
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Distal radius fractures are common injuries, especially in the aging population. Fracture healing requires immobilization of the injury, which inevitably leads to muscle atrophy and joint stiffness. This strength lost during immobilization can be problematic in patients who are already de-conditioned at baseline. Previous research using healthy participants found that exercising a non-immobilized, well, arm helped attenuate muscle atrophy in the contralateral immobilized arm. The study aims to answer the following questions: Does exercise of the contralateral arm prevent muscle atrophy and weakness of the injured arm? Does exercise of the contralateral arm improve pain scores in the injured arm

Official Title
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Well-arm Exercise in Distal Radius Fractures

Conditions
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Distal Radius Fracture

Intervention / Treatment
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* Behavioral: Well-arm Exercise


Participation Criteria
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Eligibility Criteria
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Inclusion Criteria: Adults >18 years with an isolated distal radius fracture treated non-operatively Exclusion Criteria: Operative treatment, additional injures, previous injury to same arm, neuropathy or neuromuscular disease, dementia

Ages Eligible for Study
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Minimum Age: 18 Years

Sexes Eligible for Study
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All

Accepts Healthy Volunteers
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No

Study Plan
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How is the study designed?
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Design Details

Primary Purpose: Treatment
Allocation: Randomized
Intervention Model: Parallel Assignment
Interventional Model Description: Participants will be randomly assigned to one of two groups, treatment or no treatment. Randomizations will be balanced at random accrual points.
Masking: Single


Arms and Interventions

| Participant Group/Arm | Intervention/Treatment |
| --- | --- |
| Experimental: Study arm<br>Patients randomized to this group will be provided exercises to perform with the uninjured arm once daily for 3 months. | Behavioral: Well-arm Exercise<br>* Patients randomized to the treatment arm will perform these exercises on the contralateral arm once daily for 3 months: wrist flexion and extension, ball or sock squeeze, wrist curls and biceps curls. Participants allocated to this study arm will be provided a print out of the exercises with detailed explanations and pictures of each exercise.<br>|
| No Intervention: Control arm<br>Patients randomized to this group will not be provided exercises for the well-arm and will be managed according to the current standard of care. | |

What is the study measuring?
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Primary Outcome Measures

| Outcome Measure | Measure Description | Time Frame |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Grip strength | Grip strength will be measured using a dynamometer at all clinic visits. | 3 months | 
| Forearm Circumference | Forearm circumference will be measured at the widest point of the forearm, approximately 2cm distal to the elbow. This measurement will be taken at all clinic visits. | 3 months | 

Secondary Outcome Measures

| Outcome Measure | Measure Description | Time Frame |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Pain scores of injured arm. | A visual analog scale (VAS) score will be collected at the first and all subsequent clinic visits. | 3 months | 

 Terms related to the study
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Keywords Provided by Centre Hospitalier Valida
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Distal radius fracture, cross-education, immobilization