According to a study in the July issue of The Journal of Bone & Joint Surgery, patients receiving telerehabilitation following TKR surgery experienced similar outcomes to patients receiving in-person physical therapy.
Here are five things to know:
1. Telerehabilitation involves in-home physical therapy instructions via interactive video conferencing.
2. In the study, researchers divided 205 patients ready for hospital discharge following TKR into in-person physical therapy or telerehabilitation groups. Each group was exposed to the same instructions and had the same number of physical therapy interactions over a two-month period.
3. Evaluations of patients took place post-TKR, post- rehabilitation program, and four months post-hospital discharge. The patients were tested on pain, stiffness, function, motion, strength, activity and quality of life.
4. Results revealed identical pain, function and stiffness scores after the rehabilitation program. Outcomes remained comparable after four months, including motion, strength, activity and quality of life scores.
5. The benefits of telerehabilitation are numerous, as it eliminates in-person rehabilitation travel time, cuts down costs, gives physical therapy access to rural regions and allows patients to receive the appropriate number of physical therapy sessions.
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