Immobilizing performances, comfort, and user-friendliness of the shoulder abduction-external rotation braces

摘要

Background. Shoulder external rotation braces used for patients with a first-time shoulder dislocation are designed with avariety of arm positions in abduction as well as external rotation. However, few studies have focused on their immobilizingperformance, comfort, or user-friendliness. Especially, there have been no robust data of shoulder abduction-external rotation(A-ER) braces in comparison to those of external rotation (ER) braces.Methods. Four types of commercially available shoulder braces (two ER and two A-ER braces) were tested in 30 healthyparticipants. The angles of external rotation and abduction were measured for each brace at initial application, after simulateddaily activities, and after reapplication. Then, subjects were asked to assess the discomfort of bracing and difficulty ofreapplication using a visual analogue scale. Data were compared between the two ER braces and two A-ER braces as well asamong the four braces.Results. For both external rotation angle and subjective assessment, there were no significant differences between the ER andA-ER braces. Among the four braces, the measurement of arm position demonstrated no significant differences, except theexternal rotation angles between the two ER braces. The A-ER braces were assessed to be significantly less comfortable thanthe ER braces in the subjective assessment.Conclusions. Immobilization using the A-ER braces could maintain the arm position in abduction-external rotationwith comparable user-friendliness, although they tended to be less comfortable during daily activities compared to theER braces