Efficacy of Half-length vs. Standard-sized Short Arm splint in Soft Tissue Injuries of the Hand and Wrist: a Randomized Controlled Trial

Introduction: Hand and wrist soft tissue injuries are common orthopedic problems that are traditionally treated with short arm splint, which covers the forearm to 1 cm distal to the elbow crease. Objective: The present study was conducted to compare the treatment efficacy of traditional standard-size splint with half-length short arm splint. Method: In this randomized, controlled, clinical trial, patients with hand and wrist soft tissue injuries were randomly assigned to two groups. Group one received standard-sized short arm splints and the other group received half-length short arm splints. The swelling and pain scores were compared between the groups by the end of weeks one, two and three. Results: A total of 256 patients with a mean age of 36.96 ± 12.27 years were enrolled in this study, and 71.9% of them were male. No statistically significant differences were observed in terms of swelling between the two groups after one and two weeks (P=0.41, P=0.18). None of the patients had swelling after three weeks. No statistically significant differences were observed between the two groups in terms of the pain score after one, two and three weeks (P=0.47, P=0.29, P=0.92). Conclusion: In this study, half-length short arm splints were found to be as effective as standard short arm splints

Efficacy of Half-length vs. Standard-sized Short Arm splint in Soft Tissue Injuries of the Hand and Wrist: a Randomized Controlled Trial

Introduction: Hand and wrist soft tissue injuries are common orthopedic problems that are traditionally treated with short arm splint, which covers the forearm to 1 cm distal to the elbow crease. Objective: The present study was conducted to compare the treatment efficacy of traditional standard-size splint with half-length short arm splint. Method: In this randomized, controlled, clinical trial, patients with hand and wrist soft tissue injuries were randomly assigned to two groups. Group one received standard-sized short arm splints and the other group received half-length short arm splints. The swelling and pain scores were compared between the groups by the end of weeks one, two and three. Results: A total of 256 patients with a mean age of 36.96 ± 12.27 years were enrolled in this study, and 71.9% of them were male. No statistically significant differences were observed in terms of swelling between the two groups after one and two weeks (P=0.41, P=0.18). None of the patients had swelling after three weeks. No statistically significant differences were observed between the two groups in terms of the pain score after one, two and three weeks (P=0.47, P=0.29, P=0.92). Conclusion: In this study, half-length short arm splints were found to be as effective as standard short arm splints

Protective role of silymarin and deferoxamine against iron dextran-induced renal iron deposition in male rats

Background: Kidney iron deposition (KID) is caused by iron overload that is observed in kidney diseases and anemia. The protective effects of deferoxamine (DF) and silymarin (SM) were studied against iron overload-induced KID in rat model. Methods: Rats received iron dextran (200 mg/kg) for a period of 4 weeks every other day, but at the beginning of week 3, they also were subjected to a 2-week (every other day) treatment with vehicle (group 2, positive control), SM (200 mg/kg; group 3), DF (50 mg/kg; group 4), SM (400 mg/kg; group 5), and combination of SM and DF (200 and 50 mg/kg, respectively; group 6). Group 1, as the negative control, received saline alone during the study. The levels of serum creatinine (Cr), blood urea nitrogen (BUN), iron, ferritin, and nitrite were determined, and the kidney was removed for histopathological investigations. Results: Before treatment, the serum levels of iron and ferritin in all iron dextran receiver groups were significantly higher than those of the negative control group ( P < 0.05). However, the serum levels of BUN, Cr, and nitrite were not different between the groups. No statistical differences were detected in kidney weight and the serum levels of BUN, Cr, iron, ferritin, and nitrite after 2 weeks of treatment with SM, DF, or combination of both. The SM and DF treatments reduced the intensity of the KID, but only in the SM (200 mg/kg) group, a significant reduction in KID was observed ( P < 0.05). Conclusion: It seems that SM is a nephroprotectant agent against KID in acute iron overload animal models