OBJECTIVETo investigate the effect of joint mobilization on postoperative wrist joint function, pain and grip strength for elderly patients with distal radius fracture.

METHODSFrom January 2015 to June 2016, a total of 67 elderly patients with distal radius fracture were randomly divided into routine exercise group and joint mobilization group. Among them, 37 patients in the routine exercise group underwent conventional distal radius fracture postoperative joint function exercise regimen, including 16 males and 21 females with a mean age of (67.8±3.2) years old ranging from 60 to 72 years old;the injured side was dominant in 23 cases and non-dominant in 14 cases;injury mechanism was fall in 26 cases, traffic accident in 11 cases; for AO type, 6 cases were type B3, 18 cases were type C1, 7 cases were type C2, 6 cases was type C3. Other 30 patients in the joint mobilization group underwent joint mobilization on the basis of the routine exercise group including 14 males and 16 females with a mean age of (67.1±4.0) years old ranging from 61 to 74 years old; the injured side was dominant in 21 cases and non-dominant in 9 cases;injury mechanism was fall in 25 cases, traffic accident in 5 cases;for AO type, 8 cases were type B3, 13 cases were type C1, 6 cases were type C2, 9 cases were type C3. The wrist joint activity, Gartland-Werley wrist joint function score, VAS pain score and grip strength were observed at 3 months afrer treatment.

RESULTSAfter 3 months' treatment, the VAS in the routine exercise group was higher than that of the joint mobilization group (<0.05). The grip strength of affected side in both groups were lower than that of contralateral side, but the average grip strength of affected side in joint mobilization group was higher than that in routine exercise group(<0.05). In routine exercise group, the average angle of flexion, extension, radial deviation were significantly higher than those of joint mobilization group(<0.05). But ulnar deviation angle in routine exercise group compared with joint mobilization group had no significant difference (>0.05). In the comparison of each item of Gartland-Werley, there was no significant difference between two groups in residual deformity and complication(>0.05); the average score of subjective score, objective score and total score in routine exercise group were significantly higher than those of the joint mobilization group (<0.05). The wrist function Gartland-Werley score in routine exercise group after treatment was excellent in 21 cases, good in 10, 6 in fair, while in joint mobilization group, excellent in 23, good in 6, fair in 1(<0.05).

CONCLUSIONSThe application of joint mobilization in the treatment of elderly patients with distal radius fracture can improve the joint activity and obtain better wrist function after surgery.