This study suggests no. The control arm was given standard physical therapy and the intervention arm was instructed in four basic exercises to do on their own daily for a week. Patents were then surveyed to assess for long term pain. There was no difference in pain between the two groups. Meaning, at least in this study reliant on patient journaling and follow up, that these four simple exercises did not impact long term pain in chest wall injured patients. More work needs to be done in this important area.
References
Cheri Battle, Timothy Driscoll, Deborah Fitzsimmons, Shaun Harris, Fiona Lecky, Claire O'Neill, Alan Watkins, Jane Barnett, Susan Davies, Hayley Anne Hutchings, Kate Jones, Andrew Eglington, Sophie Place, Hannah Toghill, Katie Foster, Bethan Uzzell, Elizabeth Ford, Mark Baker, Sophie Lewis, Sara Davies, Sarah Nicholls, Amy Charnock, Claire Watkins, Sarah-Jane Garside, Jeannie Bishop, Thomas Dawson, Jessica Pendlebury, Reece Doonan,
EarLy Exercise in blunt Chest wall Trauma: A multi-centre, parallel randomised controlled trial (ELECT2 Trial),
Injury,
2024,
112075,
ISSN 0020-1383, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.injury.2024.112075.C
