Impact of physical therapy on a patient with complex comminuted fracture of elbow

Ruchita Rao, Anushree Pawar, Heena Pathan, Neha Chitale, Sakshi P Arora, Pratik Phansopkar

Ravi Nair Physiotherapy College, Wardha, Maharashtra, India

ABSTRACT

Elbow joint make up to 4.3% of all fractures. Elbow joint consists of humerus radius and ulna of which humerus forms the proximal attachment while radius and ulna forms distal attachment. humerus being one of the major bone of upper limb any fracture needs to be given special consideration. Early rehabilitation can make the difference between a functional limb and an extremity with permanent loss. The rehabilitation goal is the rapid restoration of function with the attention given to prevention of deformity. A 52 year old male patient accountant by occupation with right hand dominance came with the complaint of reduced range of motion and pain in the right elbow. Patient presented with the history of fall in his home 2 months back, following which he had fracture of elbow. Patient was brought by the relatives in the casualty. After that X-ray and CT was done which showed comminuted fracture in the distal end of humerus. Patient was diagnosed with displaced comminuted fracture of elbow right side. Therapeutic intervention for the patient comprised of patient education, thermotherapy, and range of motion exercises, joint mobilization and progressive resistive exercise. Final outcome of all this intervention showed improvement in function. Early physiotherapy intervention after surgical fixation should be started to improve quality of life, forearm functioning and prevent chronic disability.

Keywords:

Comminuted fracture of elbow, Physiotherapy, Rehabilitation, Physical therapy