gms | German Medical Science

Objective: Patients with hand/wrist disorders or injuries are regularly prescribed with splints to stabilize or support the wrist, hand and/or fingers. Although mostly effective, patients often experience discomfort by using splints, e.g. sweat. Using 3D-printed splints (3Dsplints) may have benefits in terms of comfort. In addition, a better cost-effectiveness of 3Dsplints is expected. Scientific evidence of these potential benefits is however lacking. The aim of this currently ongoing project is to compare conventional and 3Dsplints with respect to patient satisfaction and healthcare costs.

Materials and Methods: Ten patients with various hand/wrist disorders or injuries are included in this study. The orthopedic technician manufactured a conventional splint, based on a plaster model. Based on a 3D-scan (HCP30, Creaform, Canada), the 3Dsplint was modelled on the computer by the orthopedic technician and printed using the nylon 'PA 12' (HP Jet Fusion 4200, Hulotech, The Netherlands). Patients used both splints in random order for at least one week. All patients completed an online questionnaire for each of the splints, rating different user aspects on a 5-point Likert scale.

Results: To date, six patients returned both questionnaires. Patients generally experienced better functionality and comfort by using the 3Dsplint. There are no differences in putting on/taking off the splint and its aesthetics. Of the six patients five preferred the 3Dsplint for future use. First analyses show better cost-efficiency for 3Dsplints, although this will be investigated into more detail.

Conclusions: Although we could only evaluate both splints in six patients so far, patients experience several benefits of the 3Dsplint. More research should be done to expand the possibilities of this technique and to evaluate cost-effectiveness. As our first experience is promising, we expect to frequently prescribe 3Dsplints in near future.