Efficacy of ultra-early rehabilitation on elbow function after Slongo’s external fixation for supracondylar humeral fractures in older children and adolescents

Excerpt

We read with interest the recent publication by He and colleagues [1]. The authors [1] stated that the time to regain the range of movement required for functional activity of daily living (ROM-ADL: flexion = 30°–130°; forearm rotation = 100° (50° pronation, 50° supination)) [2] was significantly shorter for the rehabilitation group (R-group) than the control group (C-group), but this is contradicted by the provided data listed in the authors’ first table (time to ROM-ADL: C-group = 6.65 ± 0.8 weeks; R-group = 9.74 ± 1.25 weeks). In our experience, it would be highly unlikely for a patient group who achieved ROM-ADL (poor Flynn score) at a mean of 9.74 weeks to then progress within 2.26 weeks to the high number of good and excellent Flynn scores as recorded by He et al. [1] at the 12 weeks assessment for the C- and R-group. …