Occupational Rhizarthrosis Treated Surgically: Effects on Work Performance
Main Article Content
Keywords
Osteoarthritis of the trapeziometacarpal joint, rhizarthrosis, occupational medicine, occupational hazards, Eaton and Littler scale, surgical treatment
Abstract
Background: Osteoarthritis of the trapeziometacarpal joint (rhizarthrosis) is one of the most frequent causes of hand dysfunction. Its significant impact on daily activities and work tasks is evident. This clinical condition is more commonly associated with older age, predominantly affects females, and is often linked to repetitive movements and heavy manual labor. Therefore, it is crucial to focus on the prevention and early intervention of this pathology to minimize its impact not only on worker’s health but also on their professional performance. This article aims to critically examine the association between rhizarthrosis, namely the pain with these conditions and its influence on work capacity. Methods: An epidemiological survey was conducted on active workers diagnosed with symptomatic rhizarthrosis who underwent surgical treatment. Data collected included gender, age, dominant hand, labor intensity scale, radiological classification of rhizarthrosis, patient-reported pain classification, and work capacity before and after surgical intervention. Results: In this study, there was a higher prevalence among females and older individuals. More advanced radiological classifications of rhizarthrosis did not correlate with more advanced pain classifications; however, statistically significant differences were found in higher work disability. Jobs requiring higher labor intensity and greater hand use were significantly associated with higher pain levels, increased work disability, and elevated radiological classifications of rhizarthrosis according to the Eaton and Littler scale. Conclusions: Patients with rhizarthrosis surgically treated showed a statistically significant reduction in reported pain on the analog scale, as well as greater work capacity after surgical intervention, thus contributing to better professional performance.
References
2. Wilkens S, Tarabochia M, Ring D, Chen N. Factors Associated With Radiographic Trapeziometa-carpal Arthrosis in Patients Not Seeking Care for This Condition. Hand (New York, NY). 2019;14(3):364-70. Doi: 10.1177/1558944717732064
3. Verrijdt G, De Landtsheer A, Mellen A, Godderis L. Rhizarthrosis in banknote processing work-ers: a retrospective cohort study. Occup Med. (Oxford, England). 2017;67(8):615-20. Doi: 10.1093/occmed/kqx144
4. Meireles S, Jones A, Natour J. Orthosis for rhizarthrosis: A systematic review and meta-analysis. Semin Arthritis Rheum. 2019;48(5):778-90. Doi: 10.1016/j.semarthrit.2018.07.013
5. Bijsterbosch J, Visser W, Kroon H, et al. Thumb base involvement in symptomatic hand osteo-arthritis is associated with more pain and functional disability. Ann Rheum Dis. 2010;69(3):585-7. Doi: 0.1136/ard.2009.104562
6. Haugen I, Englund M, Aliabadi P, et al. Prevalence, incidence and progression of hand osteoar-thritis in the general population: the Framingham Osteoarthritis Study. Ann Rheum Dis. 2011;70(9):1581-6. Doi: 10.1136/ard.2011.150078
7. Marshall M, van der Windt D, Nicholls E, et al. Radiographic thumb osteoarthritis: frequency, patterns and associations with pain and clinical assessment findings in a community-dwelling population. Rheumatology (Oxford, England). 2011;50(4):735-9. Doi: 10.1093/rheumatology/keq371
8. Dahaghin S, Bierma-Zeinstra S, Ginai A, et al. Prevalence and pattern of radiographic hand os-teoarthritis and association with pain and disability (the Rotterdam study). Ann Rheum Dis. 2005;64(5):682-7. Doi: 10.1136/ard.2004.023564
9. Becker S, Makarawung D, Spit S, et al. Disability in patients with trapeziometacarpal joint ar-throsis: incidental versus presenting diagnosis. J Hand Surg. 2014;39(10):2009-15.e8. Doi: 10.1016/j.jhsa.2014.07.009
10. Becker S, Briet J, Hageman M, Ring D. Death, taxes, and trapeziometacarpal arthrosis. Clin Or-thop Relat Res. 2013;471(12):3738-44. Doi: 0.1007/s11999-013-3243-9
11. Valentino M, Rapisarda V. Rhizarthrosis of the thumb in ironing workers. Med Lav. 2002;93(2):80-6. PMID: 12087803.
12. van der Oest MJW, Teunissen JS, Poelstra R, et al. Factors affecting return to work after surgical treatment of trapeziometacarpal joint osteoarthritis. J Hand Surg. European volume. 2021;46(9):979-84. Doi: 10.1177/1753193420978631
13. Hohendorff B, Staub L, Kaiser T, von Wartburg U. Working ability after tendon interposition arthroplasty for degenerative arthritis of the thumb trapeziometacarpal joint. Handchir Mikrochir Plast Chir. 2008;40(3):175-81. Doi: 10.1055/s-2007-965752
14. Terpstra S, van de Stadt L, Kloppenburg M. The management of hand osteoarthritis: The rheumatologist's perspective. J Hand Ther. 2022;35(3):322-31. Doi: 10.1016/j.jht.2022.08.001
15. Marks M, Vliet Vlieland T, Audigé L, et al. Healthcare costs and loss of productivity in patients with trapeziometacarpal osteoarthritis. J Hand Surg. European volume. 2015;40(9):927-34. Doi: 10.1177/1753193414568293
16. Marshall M, Watt F, Vincent T, Dziedzic K. Hand osteoarthritis: clinical phenotypes, molecular mechanisms and disease management. Nat Rev Rheumatol. 2018;14(11):641-56. Doi: 10.1038/s41584-018-0095-4
17. Kloppenburg M. Hand osteoarthritis-nonpharmacological and pharmacological treatments. Nat Rev Rheumatol. 2014;10(4):242-51. Doi: 10.1038/nrrheum.2013.214
18. Tossini NB, Melo CS, Braz de Oliveira MP, et al. Effect of physical therapy interventions in indi-viduals with primary thumb carpometacarpal osteoarthritis: a systematic review and me-ta-analysis. Disabil Rehabil. 2024:1-15. Doi: 10.1080/09638288.2024.2325652
19. Villafañe JH, Valdes K, Pedersini P, Berjano P. Osteoarthritis: a call for research on central pain mechanism and personalized prevention strategies. Clin Rheumatol. 2019;38(2):583-4. Doi: 10.1007/s10067-018-4270-4
20. Villafañe JH, Cleland JA, Fernandez-de-Las-Peñas C. Bilateral sensory effects of unilateral pas-sive accessory mobilization in patients with thumb carpometacarpal osteoarthritis. J Manip Physiol Ther. 2013;36(4):232-7. Doi: 10.1016/j.jmpt.2013.05.008
21. Villafañe JH, Silva GB, Fernandez-Carnero J. Short-term effects of neurodynamic mobilization in 15 patients with secondary thumb carpometacarpal osteoarthritis. J Manip Physiol Ther. 2011;34(7):449-56. Doi: 10.1016/j.jmpt.2011.05.016
22. Gravås EMH, Tveter AT, Nossum R, et al. Non-pharmacological treatment gap preceding surgi-cal consultation in thumb carpometacarpal osteoarthritis - a cross-sectional study. BMC Muscu-loskelet Disord. 2019;20(1):180. Doi: 10.1186/s12891-019-2567-3
23. Colonna S, Borghi C. Rhizarthrosis Part I: A Literature Review. Cureus. 2024;16(1):e52932. Doi: 10.7759/cureus.52932
24. Kennedy C, Manske M, Huang J. Classifications in Brief: The Eaton-Littler Classification of Thumb Carpometacarpal Joint Arthrosis. Clin Orthop Relat Res. 2016;474(12):2729-33. Doi: 10.1007/s11999-016-4864-6
25. Assessment of Repetitive Tasks of the Upper Limbs (The Art Tool). Great Britain: Health and Safety Executive Staff: Books, 2010.
26. Bäcker H, Freibott C, Rizzo M, et al. Thumb Disability Examination (TDX) as a New Reliable Tool for Basal Joint Arthritis. J Wrist Surg. 2020;9(3):209-13. Doi: 10.1055/s-0040-1701510
27. Almeida V, Fernandes C, Meireles L, et al. Translation and Cross-cultural Adaptation of the "Thumb Disability Exam - TDX" questionnaire into Brazilian Portuguese. Rev Bras Ortop. 2021;56(6):711-6. Doi: 10.1055/s-0040-1715508
28. Becker SJ, Teunis T, Ring D, Vranceanu AM. The Trapeziometacarpal Arthrosis Symptoms and Disability Questionnaire: Development and Preliminary Validation. Hand (New York, NY). 2016;11(2):197-205. Doi: 10.1177/1558944715627239
29. Farrar JT, Young JP, Jr., LaMoreaux L, et al. Clinical importance of changes in chronic pain in-tensity measured on an 11-point numerical pain rating scale. Pain. 2001;94(2):149-58. Doi: 10.1016/S0304-3959(01)00349-9
30. Sodha S, Ring D, Zurakowski D, Jupiter J. Prevalence of osteoarthrosis of the trapeziometacarpal joint. J Bone Jt Surg. American volume. 2005;87(12):2614-8. Doi: 10.2106/JBJS.E.00104
31. Sonne-Holm S, Jacobsen S. Osteoarthritis of the first carpometacarpal joint: a study of radiology and clinical epidemiology. Results from the Copenhagen Osteoarthritis Study. Osteoarthr Cartil. 2006;14(5):496-500. Doi: 10.1016/j.joca.2005.12.001
Article Sidebar
Article Details
How to Cite
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License.
All Journal's articles are Open Access papers distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
Reproductions with commercial intent will require written permission and payment of royalties.
This work is licensed under a CC BY-NC 4.0 Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License.
How to Cite
