The importance of rehabilitation concerning upper extremity amputees: A systematic review

Objective: To evaluate and point out the importance of prosthetic rehabilitation of upper extremity. Methods: A systematic literature search was performed to identify studies concerning prosthetic rehabilitation in upper extremity. The PRISMA Statement 2009 was used to establish the study and the methodological quality was assessed. Results: The literature search identified 620 studies. Of these 620, 9 studies fulfilled the inclusion criteria and were included for data extraction. The studies pointed out the upper limb prosthetic rehabilitation protocols consist of general exercise programme, motor tasks, phantom exercises, Muscle Training System, edema control, functional activities, signal strengthening, prosthetic education exercises, neuromuscular reeducation, virtual image and virtual reality exercises. Conclusions: The current systematic literature review has shown that the prosthetic rehabilitation seems promising especially for upper extremity amputees.