What is known from the existing literature about the treatment of Mallet Injury using 3D printed splints? A Scoping Review Protocol

Background: Mallet finger injuries are a frequent cause of hospital attendance, being the fifth most common injury in the body. They are therefore a frequent cause of hospital visits. To date, these injuries have primarily been managed using generic splints. As a generic splint provides a generic fit, patients who receive these are not provided with a custom splint experience. As the size and fit of these splints are not bespoke to the patient's anatomy, patients may not always find the fit comfortable and may find complying with these splints difficult at times. However, an opportunity is developing within healthcare where custom splinting can be obtained for some using Three-D (3D) printing. The rationale for this review is to gain an understanding of the research that has been conducted on 3D printing of mallet injury splints.

Objective: The objective of this scoping review is to map the current literature on 3D printing associated with mallet finger injury.

Methods: The Joanna Briggs Institute (JBI) methodology for scoping reviews will be used throughout along with the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses extension for Scoping Reviews (PRISMA-ScR). Two researchers will search the databases that will include CINAHL, Embase, Cochrane, EbscoHost, Medline/Pubmed, Science Direct, Web of Science, and Google Scholar. The search will include a hand search of sources falling outside the chosen databases. Screen titles, abstracts, and full-text articles will be reviewed by two researchers independently using Rayaan software. The data extracted from the literature will first be presented in a tabulated chart followed by a narrative synthesis.

Registration: The protocol was registered on 6 ^th September 2023, with the Open Science Framework. Registration DOI: https://doi.org/10.17605/OSF.IO/FSJPK.