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What’s New in Orthopaedic Rehabilitation 2025

OrthoBuzz for Surgeons
Orthopaedic Rehabilitation

knee Injuries. young sport man with strong athletic legs holding knee with his hands in pain after suffering muscle injury during a running workout training on Running Track. Healthcare and sport concept.

New findings in orthopaedic rehabilitation are presented in the latest JBJS Guest Editorial, What’s New in Orthopaedic Rehabilitation. Here, we highlight the 5 most impactful studies, as selected by coauthor Reina Nakamura, DO, RMSK.

Shoulder

Researchers utilized surface electromyography to compare scapular neuromuscular control across 5 common rehabilitative exercises in 27 healthy patients. Of the 5 exercises studied, prone horizontal abduction with external rotation demonstrated optimal control. External rotation in side lying, low row, and wall slide did not meet all of the criteria for optimal control but nonetheless showed early activation of shoulder-stabilizing muscles, supporting their clinical utility1.

A meta-analysis of 5 studies (323 patients with primary frozen shoulder) evaluated the rotator interval vs. posterior approach for ultrasound-guided corticosteroid injections into the glenohumeral joint. The rotator interval approach was associated with better outcomes, with significant differences in pain, function, rotation, and abduction after 12 weeks post-injection2.

Hip

In a level I, single-surgeon randomized controlled trial, arthroscopic surgery with postoperative physical therapy was compared with physical therapy alone for treating symptomatic acetabular labral tears secondary to femoroacetabular impingement. A total of 97 patients ≥40 years of age were included. Patient-reported outcomes and pain relief at 24 months were superior in the arthroscopic group3.

Spine

A placebo-controlled trial showed that an 8-week, self-administered virtual reality program for chronic low back pain, which involved cognitive behavioral therapy techniques, mindfulness, and pain education, provided continued benefits at 18 months following treatment. Namely, sustained reductions in pain, pain-related stress, pain interference with activity, and sleep disturbance, as well as improvement in physical function, were observed4.

Joints

A study published in JBJS utilized an institutional total joint registry to assess complication risk among patients with obesity who underwent total knee arthroplasty (TKA). From 1990 to 2019, the prevalence of Class-II obesity increased 90% and the prevalence of Class-III obesity increased 300%. However, the risks of reoperation, revision, and periprosthetic joint infection within 2 years after TKA decreased or remained stable for patients with obesity, as well as decreased for patients with no obesity5.

What’s New in Orthopaedic Rehabilitation is freely available at JBJS.org.

What’s New by Subspecialty

Each month, JBJS publishes a review of the most pertinent studies from the orthopaedic literature in a select subspecialty. To read the reports, visit the What’s New by Subspecialty collection at JBJS.org.

Recent OrthoBuzz posts include: What’s New in Shoulder and Elbow Surgery, What’s New in Hip Surgery, and What’s New in Osteoporosis and Fragility Fractures.

References

  1. Mendez-Rebolledo G, Araya-Quintanilla F, Guzmán-Muñoz E, Salazar-Mendez J, Cruz-Montecinos C, Berckmans KR, Calatayud J. Comparative electromyographic study of scapular stabilizing muscles during five main rehabilitation exercises. Am J Phys Med Rehabil. 2024 Jun 1;103(6):502-9.
  2. Arrambide-Garza FJ, Guerrero-Zertuche JT, Alvarez-Villalobos NA, Quiroga-Garza A, Espinosa-Uribe A, Vilchez-Cavazos F, Salinas-Alvarez Y, Rivera-Perez JA, Elizondo-Omaña RE. Rotator interval vs posterior approach ultrasound-guided corticosteroid injections in primary frozen shoulder: a meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials. Arch Phys Med Rehabil. 2024 Apr;105(4):760-9.
  3. Martin SD, Dean MC, Gillinov SM, Cherian NJ, Eberlin CT, Kucharik MP, Abraham PF, Nazal MR, Conaway WK, Quinlan NJ, Alpaugh K, Torabian KA. Hip arthroscopy versus physical therapy for the treatment of symptomatic acetabular labral tears in patients older than 40 years: 24-month results from a randomized controlled trial. Am J Sports Med. 2024 Aug;52(10):2574-85.
  4. Maddox T, Garcia H, Ffrench K, Maddox R, Garcia L, Krishnamurthy P, Okhotin D, Sparks C, Oldstone L, Birckhead B, Sackman J, Mackey I, Louis R, Salmasi V, Oyao A, Darnall BD. In-home virtual reality program for chronic low back pain: durability of a randomized, placebo-controlled clinical trial to 18 months post-treatment. Reg Anesth Pain Med. 2024 May 7;49(5):373-5.
  5. Uvodich ME, Dugdale EM, Pagnano MW, Berry DJ, Abdel MP, Bedard NA. Outcomes of obese patients undergoing primary total knee arthroplasty: trends over 30 years. J Bone Joint Surg Am. 2024 Nov 6;106(21):1963-70.
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