2012 COA Annual Meeting: Fractures of the Distal Radius in Women in Middle and Older Adulthood: The CAST Trial - Preliminary Results of a Randomised Pilot Study

18 female patients with distal radius fractures were included in this randomized trial to examine the effects of cross education during the rehabilitation process. Patients were randomized to normal rehabilitation and contralateral hand strength training or normal rehabilitation alone. At 12 weeks, the contralateral training group demonstrated less of a deficit in grip strength of the injured hand than the normal rehab group (compared to the uninjured hand at week one). The training group also had significantly greater wrist flexion and extension than the normal rehab group at the final follow-up but there were no differences in supination and pronation. There were also no differences in grip strength and range of motion at 9 weeks, or in Patient Rated Wrist Evaluation scores at any follow up period.