VIDEO: Smartwatch-based platform may be noninferior to physical therapy in TJA
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SAN DIEGO — At the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons Annual Meeting, David A. Crawford, MD, FAAOS, discussed the impact of a smartwatch-based care platform on outcomes and health care utilization after total joint arthroplasty.
Crawford and colleagues randomly assigned patients undergoing total hip arthroplasty, total knee arthroplasty or unicompartmental knee arthroplasty to receive either standard of care with physical therapy or a smartwatch (Apple) with a smartphone-based application (mymobility, Zimmer Biomet) that provides preoperative and postoperative educational content and video directed exercise programs, as well as tracks the patient’s activity. Patients in the mymobility application group were not prescribed physical therapy but could be if their surgeon deemed it necessary, according to the researchers.
Researchers found patients who received care with the smartphone-based application had significantly decreased physical therapy visits in the post-acute period. Results also showed no differences in range of motion and other outcome variables between the two groups, as well as no differences in hospital readmission rates, unplanned visits and other complications in the perioperative period.
“Overall, it was encouraging results. The study is still ongoing with enrollment, and we continue to look at other variables, such as the patient’s activity and how that can correlate with range of motion so the surgeons can be alerted if there are any concerns in the early perioperative period,” Crawford, of JIS Orthopedics, said.
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Crawford DA, et al. Poster 765. Presented at: American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons Annual Meeting. Aug. 31-Sept. 3, 2021; San Diego.
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