The aim of this study was to investigate the efficacy of mirror therapy in reducing pain and disability in patients with distal radial fractures. Twenty-two patients with closed distal radial fracture were randomly assigned to experimental (= 11) or control (= 11) groups. Researchers were blinded to group allocation. Both groups received conventional physiotherapy. In addition, the experimental group had 15 sessions of mirror therapy (a daily session, 30 min). The control group received the same amount of conventional occupational therapy. VAS, Quick-DASH and wrist extension were used as outcome measures. Pain, disability, and range of motion improved for both groups after intervention. No significant post-treatment differences were found between groups in Quick-DASH (= 0.409), active wrist extension (= 0.191) and VAS scores (= 0.807). There was no significant difference in active wrist extension between groups.
Mirror therapy was not superior to conventional occupational therapy in reducing pain and disability.