RT Book, Section A1 Armstrong, Cindy Johnson A2 Mitra, Raj SR Print(0) ID 1159830633 T1 Hand Rehabilitation T2 Principles of Rehabilitation Medicine YR 2019 FD 2019 PB McGraw-Hill Education PP New York, NY SN 9780071793339 LK neurology.mhmedical.com/content.aspx?aid=1159830633 RD 2024/10/10 AB THE HISTORY OF HAND THERAPY AND HAND rehabilitation began during World War II when the Surgeon General, Major General Norman T. Kirk, determined that severe hand injuries and surgeries were worthy of specialized treatment. This led to the development of nine “hand centers” in select military hospitals across the country where officers trained in plastic, orthopedic, and neurologic surgery were designated to repair wounded hands. These surgeons realized that postoperative therapy was as critical to recovery and socioeconomic well-being as the surgery itself and worked closely with therapists to develop specialized protocols and technical manuals to manage this patient population.