• BACKGROUND
    • Three-dimensional (3D) printing is a manufacturing technique that is increasing in its application to produce methods of bespoke care for patients. An area of clinical care that has mixed outcomes and lacks consensus on the gold standard of treatment is mallet injury.
  • PURPOSE
    • There may be an opportunity to provide custom care to patients with mallet injury using 3D printing. To determine the feasibility of using 3D-printed custom orthoses to treat mallet injury, it is necessary to evaluate the prior evidence surrounding this topic. Thus, a scoping review of the literature is warranted.
  • STUDY DESIGN
    • The Population Concept & Context Framework was used to develop the research question and inform the inclusion criteria. The population is adults and children of all ages and ethnicities. The concept is all reference to 3D printing for mallet injuries. The context framework is all locations, both research and clinical bases.
  • METHODS
    • The databases searched were CINAHL, MEDLINE/PubMed, Embase, Cochrane, EbscoHost, Science Direct, Web of Science, and Google Scholar. As the earliest applications of 3D printing were in the 1980s, the search ranged from 1980-September 2023. English language filters were applied.
  • RESULTS
    • A total of 10 results met the final inclusion criteria and were included in the review. The results of the review have demonstrated that the current body of evidence is represented by a low number of studies with heterogeneous methodologies, orthosis design, materials testing, and healthy vs injured subjects.
  • CONCLUSIONS
    • Expanding research to focus on clinical outcomes of 3D-printed mallet orthosis on a wider scale could provide the data-driven evidence base needed to provide a meaningful addition to current health care orthosis options.
  • REGISTRATION
    • The protocol was registered on September 6, 2023, with the Open Science Framework. Registration DOI: https://doi.org/10.17605/OSF.IO/FSJPK.