Static splinting after stroke: are therapists overlooking the evidence?

This pretty much matches up with these earlier posts;

A review of stroke rehabilitation and physiotherapy. This was written in 1990 

National Institute for Health and Care Excellence stroke rehabilitation guidance – is it useful, usable, and based on best evidence? 

Evidence-Based Therapy for stroke rehab?

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But the question that was not answered, 'Does splinting help recovery?'

 

http://linkis.com/net/BFex6

So does splinting help with contractures?

While there’s anecdotal evidence and a few older non-randomized studies that suggest stretching from static splinting is effective for preventing and treating contractures, when subjected to more rigorous testing, positive results simply have not materialized. For example, a randomized controlled trial (RCT) involving 63 post stroke patients studied the effects of either neutral static splint or extended static splint worn overnight for 4 weeks, as compared to a control group wearing no splint (Lannin, 2007). The study found that splinting the wrist in either the neutral or extended wrist position for 4 weeks did not reduce wrist contracture after stroke. Citing the above RCT, the Scottish Intercollegiate Guidelines Network (SIGN) guideline on stroke management and rehabilitation says that splinting is not recommended for improving upper limb function or for reducing spasticity in the wrist and finger flexors following stroke. Other medical stroke guidelines that were written before this study say that splinting should be “considered” while acknowledging that the evidence was poor.

more at link.