Rehabilitation News

The Orthopaedic and Rehabilitation Devices Panel of the Medical Devices Advisory Committee today recommended nonthermal shortwave diathermy devices be reclassified as class II devices for indications involving postoperative pain and edema.

After the Boston Marathon bombings that killed 3 people and injured 264 people, orthopedic surgeons treated wounds normally seen in a wartime setting. The injuries involved all layers of the extremity and varied greatly: surgeons were treating patients with burns, fractures, retained fragmentation and soft tissue loss. These patients will need multiple surgeries to stabilize, repair bone and repair soft tissue before they can start rehabilitation.

Researchers from Brazil found that early start of open kinetic chain exercises for quadriceps strengthening with a limited range of motion improves muscle strength after ACL reconstruction compared to late start open kinetic chain exercises, however, there are no significant differences in pain or function to either exercise regime.

Athletes who sustain concussions have a more than three and a half times risk for developing lower extremity injuries 90 days after return-to-sport than players without a concussion.

Patients who performed home-based exercises as a conservative treatment for full-thickness rotator cuff tears showed no significant differences at 2-month follow-up for pain or function compared to those who received formal occupational therapy, according to results from this prospective randomized study.

Patients with knee osteoarthritis who were randomized to an 8-week exercise program prior to total knee arthroplasty had significantly higher quality of life scores at 3 months compared to those not enrolled in the program, according to researchers of a pilot study.

Physical therapy was as effective at treating meniscal tears and knee osteoarthritis as arthroscopic surgery, according to this study from the New England Journal of Medicine.

CHICAGO — Educating patients preoperatively about how to walk after total knee or hip arthroplasty can help reduce the number of falls that occur in patients who receive a nerve block postoperatively, according to a presenter here.

DJO Global Inc., announced the launch of its AirSelect suite of high-performance pneumatic walking boots.

Italian researchers found in a recent study that intraarticular corticosteroid injections relieved pain in geriatric patients with rotator cuff tears and that active range of motion was an important predictor of pain outcomes.