Kinematic analysis of hand movements after tendon repair surgery: a new assessment using drawing movements

Objective: Although several hand outcome tests exist to judge skill level after hand injury, currently none give insight into how tasks are performed by looking at kinematic parameters. In this article, the clinical value of analyzing kinematic parameters related to the drawing of a triangle on a graphics tablet by healthy subjects and patients with hand injury is discussed. Design: In a first experiment 10 healthy subjects drew the triangles as accurately as possible at various speeds. In a second experiment, 67 healthy subjects and 12 patients with flexor tendon injury were measured repeatedly. Results: In the first experiment, the analysis showed a high linear correlation between speed and accuracy for each individual (Pearson correlation coefficient >= 0.762, P Conclusion: The results show that kinematic parameters of hand movements may be of additional value for assessing functional recovery from hand injury