Demographics and rates of surgical arthroscopy and postoperative rehabilitative preferences of arthroscopists from the Arthroscopy Association of North America (AANA).

Shah, Neil V; Solow, Maximilian; Kelly, John J; Aylyarov, Alexandr; Doran, James P; Bloom, Lee R; Akil, Samuel; Siddiqui, Bilal et al. · J Orthop · 2018

cross_sectional · Level IV

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Abstract

Survey of 869 arthroscopists regarding joint-specific arthroscopic procedures and postoperative rehabilitative preferences revealed comparable support for use of supervised physical therapy (SPT) and home exercise programs (HEPs) but stronger preference for joint-specific HEP applications (wrist, knee). Among respondents utilizing HEPs, modality of delivery (verbal/handout/web-based) didn't differ by joint, yet only 2.9% utilized web-based HEPs. This is the first known study to identify postoperative rehabilitation preferences. With 1.77 million estimated arthroscopic procedures annually (mean: 325.4 procedures/respondent), this study highlights under-utilization of web-based HEPs. Reliable, web-based HEPs can improve post-arthroscopic outcomes for patients, arthroscopic surgeons, and rehabilitative specialists while being cost efficient.