Delayed recovery of hand grip strength predicts postoperative morbidity following major vascular surgery

Abstract

Forearm muscle dynamometry was performed in the non-dominant arm in 61 patients undergoing major abdominal and limb vascular surgery, before operation and then 1, 3, 5, and 7 days after surgery. Six patients died in the postoperative period and seven patients developed major postoperative complications (bronchopneumonia, two; wound infection, four; myocardial infarction, one). The preoperative grip strength, measured in kilograms, of the patients who died after major vascular surgery was not significantly lower than that of patients who had an uncomplicated postoperative course. Of the 55 surviving patients, seven developed complications after surgery. These patients had significantly reduced grip strength, expressed as a percentage of the individual preoperative value (P less than 0.05), from the first to the seventh postoperative day when compared with patients without complications. The delayed recovery of grip strength preceded the clinical manifestation of complications. These data suggest that delayed recovery of voluntary muscle performance may be used to detect patients developing postoperative complications and so allow their early treatment.

Hand grip strength and associated factors in non-institutionalised men and women 50 years and older in South Africa

“…In a study of Japanese-American men aged 50–68 years old, mean maximum HGS was reported as 36.65 kgs [8]. Further, HGS has been found to be associated with functional limitations [9] and disability [1,5,7,8,10], frailty [1,8], morbidity and mortality [3,9,11,12], cognitive performance [3,9,13], inactivity, depression and self-rated health [7]. In addition, it was found that height and weight were associated with HGS [7].…”

Does socio-economic status predict grip strength in older Europeans? Results from the SHARE study in non-institutionalised men and women aged 50+

“…In old age, hand-grip strength is a strong predictor of disability,1–7 morbidity5 6 8 9 and mortality 10–14. Lower socio-economic status is associated with higher self-rated disability,15 16 but whether it relates to objective disability measures such as grip strength has not yet been extensively examined 5.…”

Anthropometry based prediction of dominant hand grip strength in Indian office going females

“…1 The estimation of handgrip strength is of immense importance in determining the efficacy of different treatment strategies of the hand and also in hand rehabilitation. 2 Grip strength determines the handedness of an individual, an important field of population variation study. It is often used as an indicator of overall physical strength hand and forearm muscles performances and as a functional index of nutritional status and physical performance.…”