Min BC, Yoon JS, Chung CY, Park MS, Sung KH, Lee KM. Patients’ perspectives on the conventional synthetic cast vs a newly developed open cast for ankle sprains. World J Orthop 2020; 11(11): 492-498 [PMID: 33269215 DOI: 10.5312/wjo.v11.i11.492]
Corresponding Author of This Article
Kyoung Min Lee, MD, PhD, Doctor, Clinical Associate Professor, Department of Orthopedic Surgery, Seoul National University Bundang Hospital, 300 Gumi-Dong, Bundang-Gu, Seongnam 463-707, Gyeonggi, South Korea. oasis100@empal.com
Research Domain of This Article
Orthopedics
Article-Type of This Article
Randomized Controlled Trial
Open-Access Policy of This Article
This article is an open-access article which was selected by an in-house editor and fully peer-reviewed by external reviewers. It is distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution Non Commercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited and the use is non-commercial. See: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/
World J Orthop. Nov 18, 2020; 11(11): 492-498 Published online Nov 18, 2020. doi: 10.5312/wjo.v11.i11.492
Patients’ perspectives on the conventional synthetic cast vs a newly developed open cast for ankle sprains
Byung Cho Min, Ji Soo Yoon, Chin Youb Chung, Moon Seok Park, Ki Hyuk Sung, Kyoung Min Lee
Byung Cho Min, Ji Soo Yoon, Chin Youb Chung, Moon Seok Park, Ki Hyuk Sung, Kyoung Min Lee, Department of Orthopaedic Surgery, Seoul National University Bundang Hospital, Seongnam 463-707, Gyeonggi, South Korea
Author contributions: Chung CY, Park MS, Sung KH, and Lee KM conceptualized and designed the study; Min BC, Yoon JS, and Lee KM collected, analyzed, and interpreted the data; Min BC, Yoon JS, and Lee KM wrote the first draft of the paper; Chung CY, Park MS, and Sung KH critically revised the paper for important intellectual content; All authors finally approved the paper to be published.
Institutional review board statement: This prospective study was approved by the institutional review board of our hospital. Informed consent was obtained from all study participants.
Conflict-of-interest statement: There are no conflicts of interest regarding this study.
Data sharing statement: Dataset available from the corresponding author at request.
Open-Access: This article is an open-access article that was selected by an in-house editor and fully peer-reviewed by external reviewers. It is distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution NonCommercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited and the use is non-commercial. See: http://creativecommons.org/Licenses/by-nc/4.0/
Corresponding author: Kyoung Min Lee, MD, PhD, Doctor, Clinical Associate Professor, Department of Orthopedic Surgery, Seoul National University Bundang Hospital, 300 Gumi-Dong, Bundang-Gu, Seongnam 463-707, Gyeonggi, South Korea. oasis100@empal.com
Received: April 10, 2020 Peer-review started: April 10, 2020 First decision: September 18, 2020 Revised: September 30, 2020 Accepted: October 20, 2020 Article in press: October 20, 2020 Published online: November 18, 2020
ARTICLE HIGHLIGHTS
Research background
Although the conventional cast has been effective in immobilizing orthopedic injuries, it has shortcomings such as foul odor, itchiness, internal moisture, inability to take a shower, etc. during its use. These could impede a patient’s compliance.
Research motivation
Opencast® is a recently developed mesh type of cast that allows ventilation and direct visual inspection of the skin. This cast is expected to avoid cast-related complications and discomfort. However, the advantage and efficacy of the cast have not been tested.
Research objectives
This study aimed to compare patients’ perspectives of the clinical benefits of the Opencast® and the conventional synthetic cast using a specifically designed questionnaire.
Research methods
Patients who sustained recent ankle sprain injuries were randomly allocated to group A (initial 2 wk of conventional cast + additional 2 wk of Opencast®) and group B (initial 2 wk of Opencast® and additional 2 wk of conventional cast). Patients’ perspectives on the complications and discomfort regarding the two types of cast were compared using a specifically designed questionnaire.
Research results
A total of 22 subjects participated in the study. The conventional cast appeared to be more rigid and stable than the Opencast®. Patient satisfaction tended to be rated higher after wearing the Opencast®. Opencast® was superior to the conventional cast in the items regarding itchiness, bad odor, ability to take a shower, etc.
Research conclusions
Opencast® was found to be appropriate for immobilization in patients with acute ankle sprains. Mechanical strength needs to be improved for this new type of cast.
Research perspectives
Opencast® could replace the conventional synthetic cast as it offers increased patient satisfaction, which would in turn increase compliance to treatment.
