gms | German Medical Science

14th Triennial Congress of the International Federation of Societies for Surgery of the Hand (IFSSH), 11th Triennial Congress of the International Federation of Societies for Hand Therapy (IFSHT)

17.06. - 21.06.2019, Berlin

Article

Send article

The musicians’ hand – A survey focusing on the challenges in diagnostics and therapy

Meeting Abstract

Search Medline for

  • presenting/speaker Sabrina Holzer - General Hospital of Vienna, Department of orthopedic and trauma surgery, Division of Trauma Surgery, Vienna, Austria
  • Bernhard Riebl - Krankenanstalt Rudolfstiftung, Institute of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, Vienna, Austria
  • Matthias Bertsch - University of Music and Peforming Arts Vienna, Department of Music Physiology, Vienna, Austria
  • Gerhild Thalhammer - General Hospital of Vienna, Department of Orthopedic and Trauma Surgery, Division of Trauma Surgery, Vienna, Austria
  • Irena Krusche-Mandl - General Hospital of Vienna, Department of Orthopedic and Trauma Surgery, Division of Trauma Surgery, Vienna, Austria

International Federation of Societies for Surgery of the Hand. International Federation of Societies for Hand Therapy. 14th Triennial Congress of the International Federation of Societies for Surgery of the Hand (IFSSH), 11th Triennial Congress of the International Federation of Societies for Hand Therapy (IFSHT), 11th Triennial Congress of the International Federation of Societies for Hand Therapy (IFSHT). Berlin, 17.-21.06.2019. Düsseldorf: German Medical Science GMS Publishing House; 2020. DocIFSSH19-1756

doi: 10.3205/19ifssh0553, urn:nbn:de:0183-19ifssh05530

Published: February 6, 2020

© 2020 Holzer et al.
This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License. See license information at http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/.

Outline

Text

Objectives/Interrogation: Professional musicians challenge their bodies to perform up to 25 notes per second. Manual handicaps combined with an inadequate therapy can be fatal for a professionals' career. In order to efficiently understand a musicians' impairment, additional knowledge about instrument-related requirements are needed.

Methods: A questionnaire was sent to professional musical institutions in Austria focusing on musicians having medical problems considering their hands. General demographic data, data about the entity of their symptoms, the instrument, different therapies and their rehabilitation time was collected. In order to obtain a better comparability, a score was established emphasizing on the level of impairment.

Results and Conclusions: We found a predominance of female musicians and an average age of 28 (range 16-65). Most common impairments included tendinitis, hypermobility, nerve entrapment syndromes and rheumatoid diseases. Mean duration of symptoms was 7.5 months.

The main risk factor for the development of symptoms were extended practice times (p<0.5).

Loss of fine motor skills, loss of strength and pain were leading symptoms. 9.8% were offered a surgical option, but only 3% admitted to the procedure, mostly being skeptical of the doctors' real understanding of their problem. In the surgically treated group, the procedure offered a good option with a favorable functional outcome.

In the treatment of musicians with problems in the hand, treatment should be adapted to the specific needs of each musician. Further examination with the instrument can be helpful to understand the nature of their problems. If surgery is needed, early intervention can be beneficial to the patient. Additional ergotherapy, retraining of their technique and psychological help can quicken the process of healing.