After a complete pulley rupture treated with a pulley-protection splint, 38 of 43 climbers were back at their previous level at a mean of 8.8 months, with no deficit in range of motion or strength
Key Findings
38 of the 43 climbers who answered had regained their previous climbing level at a mean of 8.8 months after the rupture.
Splint treatment reduced the tendon–phalanx distance from 4.4 ± 1.0 mm to 2.3 ± 0.6 mm after A2 rupture and from 2.9 ± 0.7 mm to 2.1 ± 0.5 mm after A4 rupture (39 with follow-up ultrasound).
Finger range of motion (n = 42) and strength (n = 22) did not differ from the uninjured side.
Practical Application
For a climber with a diagnosed single rupture: plan the season around a return to the previous level in about nine months, with the clinician setting each step. Training for everything else continues.
A follow-up study of 21 climbers found no long-term strength difference between the injured and healthy finger and a return to level within a year (Schöffl 2006, DOI 10.1249/01.mss.0000210199.87328.6a).
The assistant does not prescribe the splint or the loading steps.
Limitations
Retrospective, no control; strength measured in only 22. Abstract only was read.