Postoperative management for PIP joint pyrocarbon arthroplasty.

Although protocols provide therapists with the scaffolding with which to build a treatment program, it is the judgment, knowledge, and skills of the therapist, and how the one uses such information that allows for modification of a protocol when deemed necessary. This therapist outlines how she modified a postsurgical protocol by using anatomy, biomechanics, the literature, and clinical judgment. This article describes the methodical approach used to successfully modify a standard postsurgical protocol after a PIP joint arthroplasty.