Effectiveness of Maitland mobilisation technique on pain and hand functions in the postoperative management of Colles fracture

Abstract

This study compared use of the Maitland mobilisation and conventional mobilisation techniques for improving pain and range of motion postoperatively in patients with Colles’ fracture. The subjects were 60 patients with colles’ fracture who had been managed surgically. The subjects were divided in two groups, those who received Maitland mobilisation or those who received conventional mobilisation. Pain and hand functions were evaluated pre- and post-intervention in both groups. Paired t-tests were used to compare the pre- and post-intervention results in both groups, and independent t-tests were used to compare groups. Both groups exhibited significant decreases in pain post-intervention. Moreover, the hand functions increased significantly post-intervention in both groups. However, there was significant difference between groups with better results observed in the Maitland group with respect to pain improvement and hand functions.