Rehabilitation News

LONG BEACH, Calif. — Patients who are operatively treated for Achilles tendon ruptures returned to active duty quicker, however, there were no differences in complications compared with patients who were treated nonoperatively, according to data presented here.

Patients who underwent ACL repair and had participated regularly in sports preoperatively were found to have difficulty returning to their previous level of play by 2 years postoperatively.

ORLANDO, Fla. — Skeletally immature patients with 3 years to 6 years of remaining growth who underwent all-inside, all-epiphyseal ACL reconstruction demonstrated a 9% failure rate, with most patients returning to sports — but not until an average of 12.5 months postoperatively, according to the findings from a study presented here.

Most patients’ brake reaction time had returned to baseline level or better within 2 weeks of undergoing total hip arthroplasty, allowing the patients to be able to drive safely again, according to study results.

Many patients who underwent total knee arthroplasty did not experience improvement in their gait relative to preoperative patients by 12 months postoperatively; however, use of routine gait analysis was helpful for guiding patients’ postoperative rehabilitation and may be useful for developing strategies for mobility improvement, according to researchers’ findings.

According to study results, a median of 10 exercise sessions before total knee replacement demonstrated a small yet non-significant improvement in functional assessments compared with patient education only; however, benefits were not sustained after surgery, demonstrating inconclusive results regarding whether preoperative exercise was beneficial for postoperative functional outcomes.

When caring for orthopedic patients, physicians must consider the role of hormones, differential anatomy, joint stability and bone quality, as well as differences in recovery after injury and surgery among men and women, according to researchers.

LYON, France — In patients with recurrent patellar dislocation, medial patellofemoral ligament reconstruction improved objective clinical and radiographic assessments, according to data presented here.

LYON, France — In a retrospective cohort study of adolescent patients who underwent ACL reconstruction, findings linked surgical delay with lower scores for activities of daily living and greater rates of specific associated tears and lesions.

LYON, France — A splint-based conservative treatment yielded the same high rate of anatomical and functional restoration of the ACL as seen in a smaller, previously reported study, according to results presented at the International Society for Arthroscopy, Knee Surgery and Orthopaedic Sports Medicine Biennial Congress, here.