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Orthopaedic research

Everything we have read on orthopaedic. Each paper is summarised from the full article rather than its abstract, so the limitations are in there too, and the funding wherever the paper declares it.

2,015 PAPERS · PAGE 31 OF 41 · NEWEST FIRST

• PTPilot2024The Impact of Visual Perturbation Neuromuscular Training on Landing Mechanics and Neural Activity: A Pilot Study.International journal of sports physical therapyEight female athletes with poor landing mechanics completed four hours of neuromuscular training while wearing glasses that flickered between clear and opaque. Their landing error scores dropped by 1.5 points. Brain scans showed reduced activity in areas handling motor planning and spatial processing.
• PTOTNarrative Review2025Inducing asymmetric gait in healthy walkers: a review.Frontiers in rehabilitation sciencesResearchers reviewed ways to make healthy walkers limp. Leg length differences and unilateral weights worked best. Sensory tricks like vibration or sound were inconsistent. These methods help test devices before recruiting patients.
• PTOther2025Assessment of Pelvic Motion During Single-Leg Weight-Bearing Tasks Using Smartphone Sensors: Validity Study.JMIR rehabilitation and assistive technologiesSmartphone sensors placed on the lower back accurately measure pelvic motion and exercise duration during single-leg squats and step-downs compared to lab motion capture. While the phone consistently underestimates tilt and overestimates sway, it reliably detects differences between tasks, offering a low-cost clinic tool.
• PTOTSLPCase Series2024Task-Driven Neurophysiological qEEG Baseline Performance Capabilities in Healthy, Uninjured Division-I College Athletes.International journal of sports physical therapyHealthy Division-I athletes showed sex-based differences in brain activity during single-leg movements. Females had higher cognitive workload and more symmetrical brain activity, while males performed better on step-down tasks. These baselines are descriptive and do not prove qEEG predicts injury or readiness.
• PTCohort2024Monitoring Cortical and Neuromuscular Activity: Six-month Insights into Knee Joint Position Sense Following ACL Reconstruction.International journal of sports physical therapyAfter ACL reconstruction, knee position sense accuracy, quadriceps muscle activity and brain activity in the ACL group did not differ from healthy controls over time, except an isolated frontal brain activity result.
• PTOTSLPOther2025Abnormal activity in the brainstem affects gait in a neuromusculoskeletal model.Journal of neuroengineering and rehabilitationComputer simulations suggest that different types of freezing of gait may stem from abnormal activity in two specific brainstem nuclei. This offers a theoretical model for why some patients respond to cues while others need medication, but it is not yet clinical evidence.
• PTCohort2025Association between lower extremity movement patterns and ACL loading in CAI patients across varied ankle sprain frequencies within a year.Journal of neuroengineering and rehabilitationMale athletes with chronic ankle instability who suffered four or more sprains in a year showed significantly higher ACL loads during single-leg landing. They landed with stiffer ankles and weaker calf muscles, forcing the knee to absorb more shock. Focus rehab on ankle dorsiflexion and calf strength for this group.
• PTOther2024Advanced Neuromuscular Training Differentially Changes Performance on Visuomotor Reaction Tests and Single-leg Hop Tests in Patients with ACL Reconstruction.International journal of sports physical therapyIn 25 analyzed patients, five weeks of advanced neuromuscular training improved single-leg hop tests and reaction test speed, but reaction errors did not change. Improvement was smaller on reaction tests than hop tests.
• PTCohort2024Physical Therapy Utilization Prior to Biceps Tenodesis or Tenotomy for Biceps Tendinopathy.International journal of sports physical therapyMost patients seeking biceps surgery had not tried physical therapy. Among those who did, therapists used more active exercises than passive modalities. This describes current practice but cannot show if treatment prevented surgery or worked.
• PTOther2024Neurocognitive & Ecological Motor Learning Considerations for the 11+ ACL Injury Prevention Program: A Commentary.International journal of sports physical therapyThis commentary proposes adding neurocognitive challenges to the FIFA 11+ warm-up to better mimic sport demands. It offers no evidence that this updated program reduces ACL injuries, so it cannot currently change standard practice.
• PTOther2024Increased Visual Attentional Demands Alter Lower Extremity Sidestep Cutting Kinematics in Male Basketball Players.International journal of sports physical therapyWhen male basketball players had to watch and react to lights during a sidestep cut, hip and knee flexion decreased compared with a known route. Ankle angles did not change. This is a movement change, not proof of injury risk.
• PTOTOther2024Indoor and outdoor 10-Meter Walk Test and Timed Up and Go in patients after total hip arthroplasty: a reliability and comparative study.Archives of physiotherapyBoth indoor and outdoor walk tests were reliable for patients just after hip replacement. Surprisingly, patients walked slightly faster outdoors than indoors, but the difference was too small to be meaningful. Clinicians can use either setting interchangeably without worrying about accuracy.
• PTOTOther2024Preventing deformities in paediatric cerebral palsy in poorly-resourced areas: A scoping review.The South African journal of physiotherapyWeak, conflicting evidence exists for preventing hip displacement, contractures and scoliosis in severe cerebral palsy. Supported standing, seating and sustained stretching showed some benefit in studies, but no tested home programmes for low-resource settings.
• PTRCT2024The immediate effects of mobilization with movement on shoulder range of motion and pain in patients with rotator cuff-related shoulder pain: A randomized controlled trial (Evolution Trial).Brazilian journal of physical therapyFor people with rotator cuff shoulder pain who respond to mobilization with movement, three sets of 10 repetitions improved pain-free abduction by 13.7 degrees versus sham. One set made only a small, uncertain change. Pain intensity and maximum range did not improve.
• PTOther2024Neurocognitive and Neuromuscular Rehabilitation Techniques after ACL Injury, Part 1: Optimizing Recovery in the Acute Post-Operative Phase- A Clinical Commentary.International journal of sports physical therapyThe paper reports no original results. It proposes neurocognitive exercises after ACL reconstruction, but it does not show that they work or change outcomes.
• PTQualitative2025Understanding Patient and Physiotherapist Requirements for a Personalized Automated Smartphone Telemonitored App for Posttotal Knee Arthroplasty Rehabilitation: Qualitative Study.JMIR rehabilitation and assistive technologiesPatients after total knee replacement and physiotherapists described requirements for an app: simple navigation, timely searchable education, exercise logs, reminders, progress tracking, alerts when recovery deviates, and continued physiotherapy sessions.
• PTNarrative Review2025The Neuroplastic Outcomes from Impaired Sensory Expectations (NOISE) hypothesis: How ACL dysfunction impacts sensory perception and knee stability.Musculoskeletal science & practiceThis paper proposes a theory that ACL injuries cause long-term instability by disrupting how the brain predicts sensory feedback. It reviews other studies to support this idea but reports no original patient data or treatment results.
• PTOTCohort2024Relationship between functional independence measure scores and timed up-and-go time in postoperative elderly patients with vertebral and hip fractures.Journal of physical therapy scienceFor elderly patients within two months of hip or vertebral fracture surgery, a Timed Up & Go time over 35 seconds strongly predicts needing nursing care. In patients more than 12 months post-surgery, slow walking often coexists with independence, so TUG time does not predict care needs in this late group.
• PTCohort2024Racial Disparities in Outpatient Physical Therapy Use After Hip Fracture: A Retrospective Cohort Study.The Journal of orthopaedic and sports physical therapyBlack Medicare beneficiaries were much less likely to receive outpatient PT after hip fracture than White beneficiaries. This gap remained even after accounting for age, sex, medical complexity, and social factors. Black patients who did start therapy also received fewer visits.
• PTRCT2024Examination of the effect of physical therapy combined with kinesiology taping on pain and muscle weakness in patients with knee osteoarthritis.Journal of physical therapy scienceExercise therapy plus correctly placed kinesiology tape did not outperform exercise therapy plus sham tape for knee osteoarthritis pain or quadriceps strength. Both groups improved over 4 weeks.
• PTOTSurvey2025Pregnancy after amputation: A national survey of prosthetic and mobility outcomes in women with lived experience.Prosthetics and orthotics internationalMost women with lower-limb amputation reported mobility changes during pregnancy, including falls and poor prosthesis fit. Many needed a wheelchair postpartum. Seven advised arranging a back-up mobility plan before delivery, as resuming prosthesis use within days was not guaranteed.
• PTMeta-Analysis2024Relationship between Shoulder Pain, Trunk and Lower Limb Pain in Overhead Athletes: A Systematic Review with Meta-analysis.International journal of sports physical therapyOverhead athletes with trunk, hip, knee, or ankle/foot pain were two to five times more likely to also report shoulder pain. This is association, not proof that one pain caused the other.
• PTNarrative Review2024The Use of Diagnostic Musculoskeletal Ultrasound for the Evaluation of the Iliopsoas in the Anterior Hip: A Guide for Rehabilitation Providers.International journal of sports physical therapyNo patient outcomes are reported. This is a guide to ultrasound evaluation of the iliopsoas, not evidence that it improves diagnosis or care.
• PTNarrative Review2024Oh, My Quad: A Clinical Commentary And Evidence-Based Framework for the Rehabilitation of Quadriceps Size and Strength after Anterior Cruciate Ligament Reconstruction.International journal of sports physical therapyThis paper is a clinical commentary and framework, not a trial or systematic review. It gives exercise progression ideas for quadriceps recovery after ACL reconstruction, but reports no original outcomes.
• PTQualitative2024The Patient-Physiotherapist Tango: a Personalized Approach to ACL Recovery - a Qualitative Interview Study.International journal of sports physical therapyPatients 8-12 months after ACL reconstruction described feeling most supported when their physiotherapist adapted exercises to their needs and set goals together. They valued a friendly, communicative alliance where they were actively involved in decisions.
• PTNarrative Review2024Neurocognitive and Neuromuscular Rehabilitation Techniques after ACL injury - Part 2: Maximizing Performance in the Advanced Return to Sport Phase.International journal of sports physical therapyAthletes often struggle to return to sport due to lingering neurocognitive deficits that standard strength tests miss. Integrating dual-task drills and reactive testing into advanced rehab phases may better prepare athletes for unpredictable game demands and reduce reinjury risk.
• PTSystematic Review2024Red flags for potential serious pathologies in people with neck pain: a systematic review of clinical practice guidelines.Archives of physiotherapyOnly 12 of 29 neck pain guidelines recommended red flags for serious pathology, and most red flags were based on reasoning rather than diagnostic accuracy. Use the Canadian C-spine rule for post-traumatic fractures; otherwise treat red flags cautiously.
• PTOTSystematic Review2025Physical functions assessed by lower limb performance-based and self-reported outcome measures for knee musculoskeletal conditions: A scoping review.Brazilian journal of physical therapyMost knee function tests miss the mark for everyday life. Self-reported surveys cover many activities but are vague. Performance tests usually check just one thing, like jumping, and can't be combined into a single score. Clinicians must match the tool to the specific activity they want to measure.
• PTOTSystematic Review2025An overview of systematic reviews investigating clinical features for diagnosing neck pain and its associated disorders.The Journal of manual & manipulative therapyImaging findings often appear in healthy people and those with neck pain, so scans rarely pinpoint the specific mechanical cause. However, combining the extension-rotation test with manual assessment of joint stiffness and muscle tenderness provides moderate to high diagnostic validity for facetogenic pain.
• PTOTSurvey2025Utilization and associated factors of traditional bone setting service among patients with musculoskeletal injuries in Northeast Ethiopia.Frontiers in rehabilitation sciencesOver half of musculoskeletal injury patients in this Ethiopian hospital had used traditional bone setters. Rural residence, low income, and limb injuries were linked to this use. Most users reported no improvement, highlighting a gap in accessible, affordable conventional care.
• PTSurvey2024Perspectives, perceptions, and expectations of subjects with frozen shoulder: a web-based Italian survey.Archives of physiotherapyPeople with frozen shoulder prioritised night pain, movement recovery and reassurance; they wanted an empathetic physiotherapist who explained the condition, while many reported anger, fear, negative thoughts about pain and inadequate social support.
• PTQualitative2025Fostering Adherence to Evidence-Based Care in the Management of Musculoskeletal Shoulder Pain: A Mixed-Methods Study.Physical therapyPatients with shoulder pain and clinicians wanted clear education about recovery timelines, treatment options, and a trusting therapeutic relationship. Shared decision-making was rarely prioritized, so clinicians may need to build it deliberately.
• PTOther2025Augmented Feedback Response Prediction by Peak Vertical Ground Reaction Force in Adolescent Female Athletes.International journal of sports physical therapyIn 147 adolescent female athletes, one augmented feedback session lowered landing impact force in 107. Baseline force alone missed 23 non-responders. One feedback session plus baseline helped separate responders from non-responders.
• PTCase Series2025Low-Load Blood-flow Restriction Training for Medial Tibial Stress-Syndrome in Athletes: A Case Series.International journal of sports physical therapyFunction and running-test performance were reported better in recreational athletes with running-related MTSS after a home low-load blood-flow restriction calf-raise program with continued sport under a pain limit, but pain changes varied and there was no control group.
• PTSurvey2025High Prevalence of Low Back Pain in College Rifle Athletes.International journal of sports physical therapyMost collegiate rifle athletes (101 of 113) reported low back pain in conjunction with rifle training or competition. Pain affected sleep, travel, and training, and female respondents reported it more often than male respondents.
• PTSystematic Review2024Adverse events related to physiotherapy practice: a scoping review.Archives of physiotherapyAcross 58 studies, physiotherapy interventions were associated with adverse events including increased pain, falls, and haemodynamic instability. Musculoskeletal care most frequently reported pain and stiffness, while cardiorespiratory and neurological settings saw falls and vital sign changes. These events were attributed to the physiotherapy intervention.
• PTOther2025The Influence of Cognitive Dual Tasking on the Outcomes of the Triple Hop Test Following Anterior Cruciate Ligament Reconstruction.International journal of sports physical therapyPatients post-ACL reconstruction hopped significantly further on their healthy leg than their surgical leg. Unexpectedly, adding a cognitive task caused a larger performance drop on the healthy leg than the surgical leg, suggesting both limbs are vulnerable to cognitive load.
• PTOther2025Global research trends in aquatic exercise therapy for musculoskeletal disorders: a bibliometric analysis.Journal of rehabilitation medicineAquatic exercise research for musculoskeletal disorders grew sharply, with 76 of 117 articles published from 2014 to 2024. It maps publication trends, not patient outcomes. It does not show whether aquatic exercise helps a patient.
• PTRCT2025Comparison of the effects of transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulation and microcurrent electrical neuromuscular stimulation after total knee arthroplasty.Journal of physical therapy scienceAfter knee replacement, on top of usual physical therapy, TENS gave less walking pain and faster 10-m walking than MENS at two weeks. MENS did not differ from electrodes only. Strength and Timed Up and Go showed no group differences.
• PTOther2025Posterior Medial Meniscus Root Tears: Clinical Implications, Surgical Management, and Post-operative Rehabilitation Considerations.International journal of sports physical therapyThis paper offers expert recommendations on rehab after posterior medial meniscus root repair, such as delaying deep squatting and hamstring curls. It reports no patient outcomes, so these protocols are not tested interventions.
• PTOTCohort2025The Relationship Between Self-Efficacy, Aerobic Fitness, and Traditional Risk Factors for Musculoskeletal Injuries in Military Training: A Prospective Cohort Study.International journal of sports physical therapyCadets with low self-efficacy got injured more often than confident peers, but this link disappeared once aerobic fitness was accounted for. Only slower 2-mile run times independently predicted injury risk. Self-efficacy screening alone misses the primary physical driver.
• PTOTSLPOther2025Optimizing the dynamic treatment regime of outpatient rehabilitation in patients with knee osteoarthritis using reinforcement learning.Journal of neuroengineering and rehabilitationA reinforcement learning model suggested alternative treatment combinations for knee osteoarthritis patients. The best algorithm predicted higher cumulative pain relief scores than those actually received, with a 79.1% success rate in simulations. This does not prove better clinical outcomes.
• PTOther2025Early Mobility and Rehabilitation Protocol after Internal Brace Ankle Stabilization.International journal of sports physical therapyThis paper proposes a 12-week early mobility protocol after internal brace ankle stabilization, moving from non-weight bearing to sport-specific training. It is a descriptive guide based on expert opinion and biomechanical data, not a study of patient outcomes.
• PTOther2025Muscle weakness but also contractures contribute to the progressive gait pathology in children with Duchenne muscular dystrophy: a simulation study.Journal of neuroengineering and rehabilitationWeakness was the main driver of gait deviations in boys with Duchenne muscular dystrophy, while stiffness and contractures added further deviations; foot arch collapse helped explain the flexion pattern.
• PTOTSLPCohort2025Musculoskeletal Pain as a Risk Factor for Poor Dizziness Outcomes: A Longitudinal Study Among Patients With Persistent Vestibular Dizziness.Physical therapyMore body pain sites and higher pain intensity predict worse dizziness and disability over 12 months in patients with persistent dizziness. This link is strongest in those with psychological distress. Screen for widespread pain and mood issues, as these patients recover less.
• PTOTSLPQualitative2024Factors contributing to non-compliance with active physiotherapy guidelines among chronic low back pain patients in India.Archives of physiotherapyIndian patients with chronic low back pain avoided active exercise because guidelines ignored cultural norms, like wearing a saree. They also distrusted therapists who failed to explain the rationale for exercises or who charged more for passive electrotherapy than active care.
• PTCohort2025Association Between Physical Therapists' Attitudes and Beliefs and the Functional Outcomes of Patients With Low Back Pain: A Multilevel Analysis Study.Physical therapyPatient function was explained mainly by patient characteristics, not therapist attitudes. A more biomedical attitude showed a small negative association, but it weakened after adjustment. Psychological orientation was not linked to better function.
• PTRCT2025Short-term effects of percutaneous electrical nerve stimulation on pain and muscle function in patients undergoing anterior cruciate ligament surgery: a randomized clinical trial.Frontiers in rehabilitation sciencesAdding ultrasound-guided PENS to rehabilitation reduced pain and improved quadriceps strength immediately after treatment. However, by 12 weeks, both groups showed similar improvements. The benefit appears to be short-term, fading as standard rehabilitation continues.
• PTOTOther2025Development, Urdu translation, and validation of a lifestyle modification manual for patients post-total knee replacement.Frontiers in rehabilitation sciencesA new home-based manual for knee replacement recovery in Pakistan was rated as clear and relevant by experts and patients. It covers exercises, diet, and education. The study validated the content but did not test if the manual improves patient outcomes.
• PTPilot2024Low back pain treatment adherence barriers in Eswatini private physiotherapy practices: A pilot study.The South African journal of physiotherapyMost patients attended physiotherapy, but those who did not understand their condition were 6.4 times more likely to miss appointments. Not having an exercise prescription tripled the odds of defaulting. Simple explanations and clear home programmes appear critical for keeping patients engaged.