Patients often ask whether or not they can drive in a sling. This is particularly a problem after some shoulder surgeries, which require that the patient wears the sling for six weeks. Not only does it feel bad to ask your friends over and over again for a ride to the store or to work, but it certainly cuts into one’s independence. Well, a study in internal the Journal of Bone and Joint Surgery in October 2010 looked at the safety of driving with an arm immobilized in a splint. Two groups of patients, one in an immobilizer and the other not, were compared in a driving test using cones or agility, as well as driving time. In those tests, patients in a fiberglass splint above and below the elbow were compared. This did not even include a sling. These were patients that could actually use their shoulder. Results showed that driving performance was significantly worse with patients in splint immobilization of the arm.
Bottom line; you are putting yourself and others at risk if you are driving with your arm and above the elbow splint. One of our patients recently got a ticket of $1500 for driving with a sling. (Don’t know if he was misbehaving as well.) In addition, it’s the law in California, just ask one of our police patients.
– Lesley J. Anderson, MD