TOPIC

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 38 OF 41 · NEWEST FIRST

• PTSystematic Review2026The global profile of individuals undergoing total knee replacement surgery through a PROGRESS-PLUS equity lens: A systematic review.The South African journal of physiotherapyNearly all 101 studies of people having knee replacement came from high-income countries, and none from Africa. Participants were 54% to 86% women with mean ages of 65 to 75, but income, education and job status were rarely recorded.
• PTOther2026Inter-rater reliability of affected-side weight bearing ratio measurement in postoperative patients with proximal femoral fractures.Journal of physical therapy scienceTherapists measuring how much weight a patient put on their operated leg after hip fracture surgery got almost identical readings, even from a single attempt and as early as day three. The test needs only two scales and a set of parallel bars.
• PTOther2026Prevalence and Predictive Factors of Active Myofascial Trigger Points Among Office Workers Using to Visual Display Terminals: A Cross-Sectional Study.Archives of rehabilitation research and clinical translation40% of office workers at a screen four or more hours a day had an active trigger point in the right upper trapezius and 35% in the left. Women were more affected than men, and more disability and lower pain thresholds went with them.
• PTCase Report2026Balloon-based exercise enhances abdominal activation: a comparison between one expert and one novice with chronic low back pain.Journal of physical therapy scienceIn a man with 10 years of low back pain, exhaling into a balloon thickened all three abdominal muscles more than a forced breath alone, while the trained instructor showed smaller gains and his transversus abdominis got thinner. Two people, no proof it works.
• PTRCT2026Association Between Changes in Shoulder Strength and Self-Reported Shoulder Symptoms in Patients With Hypermobility Following 16-Weeks of High-Load or Low-Load Exercise: A Secondary Analysis of an RCT.Physiotherapy research international : the journal for researchers and clinicians in physical therapyShoulder strength gains, particularly in external rotation and scaption, were linked to better self-reported shoulder function and, for scaption, less pain in people with hypermobility, but strength changes explained only a small part of the improvement.
• PTSurvey2026Physiotherapist's Management of Suspected Cauda Equina Syndrome in the United Kingdom: A National Survey.Physiotherapy research international : the journal for researchers and clinicians in physical therapyAltered bladder function was what most made UK physiotherapists suspect cauda equina syndrome, yet few said they would check perianal sensation or anal tone, and only about a third would send a 9-week non-progressive case to A&E.
• PTRCT2026Functional impact of gluteal tendinopathy: A secondary cross-sectional analysis of baseline data from the LEAP randomised clinical trial.Brazilian journal of physical therapyWalking, running, sitting and sleeping were the activities people with gluteal tendinopathy most often said their hip limited, and they rated their ability to do them at 4.6 out of 10 on average. Sex and activity level made no difference to that.
• PTMeta-Analysis2026Comparative Clinical Effectiveness of Intra-Articular Leukocyte-Rich Platelet-Rich Plasma and Hyaluronic Acid in Treating Knee Osteoarthritis Pain: An Updated Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis of Randomized Controlled Trials.Archives of rehabilitation research and clinical translationLeukocyte-rich PRP injections eased knee osteoarthritis pain better than hyaluronic acid at 3 months, by under a quarter of a point on a 0-to-10 scale. The edge was gone by 6 and 12 months. PRP scored better on stiffness and physical function at 12 months.
• PTOther2026Biomechanical Properties Required for the Reduction of Knee Adduction Moment Using Gait Modification in Individuals With Obesity.Archives of rehabilitation research and clinical translationWalking with a wider step lowered the peak load through the inner knee in 53 adults with obesity. Turning the toes out did not. The reduction was largest in those who also moved the hip further outward.
• PTOTCohort2026Reliability and validity of two square agility test and workability rate of manipulation in adults with musculoskeletal disorders.Journal of physical therapy scienceThe Two Square Agility Test and the WorkAbility Rate of Manipulation gave steady repeat scores three weeks apart in 55 adults with musculoskeletal disorders. A change beyond 0.74 steps a second on agility, or 6.5 to 13.1 parts a minute on dexterity, is likely real.
• PTOther2026Gait analysis and evaluation of knee buckling risk following total knee arthroplasty.Journal of physical therapy scienceThree weeks after knee replacement, 21 patients bent the knee more at foot contact when their knee position sense was worse. Vastus lateralis activity was higher the sooner after surgery they were measured. None of them buckled, so risk was inferred, not observed.
• PTSurvey2026Level of physical activity among nurses and its associated factors: A cross-sectional study.Work (Reading, Mass.)28% of Jordanian nurses did less activity than guidelines recommend. Longer working hours, more night shifts and more musculoskeletal pain sites went with being more active; having a chronic disease went with being less active.
• PTNarrative Review2026Radial Pressure Wave and Focused Shockwave Therapy for Proximal Hamstring Tendinopathy: The Role of Patient Positioning, a Narrative Review and Clinical Commentary.International journal of sports physical therapyOne trial of 100 people found shockwave no better than physiotherapy for proximal hamstring tendinopathy, while another found far more pain relief than usual care. No study has tested whether patient position changes the result.
• PTCohort2026Limb Dominance Does Not Affect Y-Balance Performance in Young Athletes 12 Weeks After Anterior Cruciate Ligament Reconstruction.International journal of sports physical therapyWhich leg was injured made no difference to Y-Balance reach distances 12 weeks after ACL surgery in 106 young athletes. Scores on the surgical and non-surgical sides were the same whether the torn ligament was in the dominant or non-dominant leg.
• PTMeta-Analysis2026Effects of physical therapy modalities for early postoperative pain following total knee arthroplasty: a systematic review and network meta-analysis.Frontiers in rehabilitation sciencesCryotherapy, kinesio taping, electroacupuncture and manual lymphatic drainage each reduced early pain after knee replacement more than a control group, but evidence quality was low to very low. Continuous passive motion showed no benefit.
• PTOther2026Long-term musculoskeletal impacts on the functionality of Brazilian patients after SARS-CoV-2: assessment through telehealth.Frontiers in rehabilitation sciencesPeople who had spent longer in social distancing after COVID-19 took longer to stand up from a chair five times, and were more likely to report joint or muscle pain. The study is a single snapshot and cannot show isolation caused this.
• PTProtocol2026The Effect of Therapeutic Exercises and Ultrasound for Rehabilitation of Partially Injured Hamstring Muscles in Elite Soccer (Football) Players: A Study Protocol for a Randomized Controlled Trial.International journal of sports physical therapyThis is a plan for a trial, not a finished study. No players have been treated and no results are reported, so there is nothing here yet that changes what you do.
• PTOther2026Inter-rater reliability and construct validity of a cross-diagnostic movement quality score for rehabilitation assessment.Journal of rehabilitation medicineTwo physiotherapists watching the same patient scored movement quality almost identically on a new 10-item scale, and higher scores went with greater independence in daily activities. The scale has not yet been tested for detecting change over time.
• PTOther2026Inter-rater and Intra-rater Reliability of the Cutting Movement Assessment Score Among Physical Therapists.International journal of sports physical therapyThe same therapist scored the same 20 cutting videos almost identically when re-scored 130 days later (excellent). Scores from different therapists agreed only moderately, and least between the most experienced and the newest rater.
• PTNarrative Review2026Diagnostic Musculoskeletal Ultrasound in the Evaluation of the Proximal Hamstrings at the Ischial Tuberosity.International journal of sports physical therapyA how-to guide to scanning the proximal hamstring at the ischial tuberosity with ultrasound. It describes anatomy and normal scan appearances, reports no patients and no results, so there is nothing here to change practice on.
• PTOther2026An Examination of the Relationship Between Fear of Reinjury and Neuromuscular, Musculoskeletal, and Biomechanical Characteristics at the Time of Return to Sport following Anterior Cruciate Ligament Reconstruction.International journal of sports physical therapyAthletes cleared for return to sport after ACL reconstruction who scored higher on fear of reinjury did not differ from less fearful athletes on strength, stability, hop symmetry or most movement measures. Only calf flexibility and one knee landing angle differed, in a small study.
• PTOTRCT2025Effects of Inpatient Occupational Rehabilitation vs. Outpatient Acceptance and Commitment Therapy on Sick Leave and Cost of Lost Production: 7-Year Follow-Up of a Randomized Controlled Trial.Journal of occupational rehabilitationSeven years on, people who got the 3.5-week inpatient rehabilitation had fewer sick-leave days than those who got weekly outpatient ACT, but the difference was small enough that it could be chance. Costs of lost production were similar.
• PTMeta-Analysis2024Efficacy and tolerability of extracorporeal shock wave therapy in patients with plantar fasciopathy: a systematic review with meta-analysis and meta-regression.European journal of physical and rehabilitation medicineESWT for plantar fasciopathy was well tolerated: adherence 82.19% to 100%, dropout 7.78%, side effects mostly minor. Pooled pain scores fell 2.818 points after focal and 3.038 after radial ESWT, but those are pre-to-post changes within ESWT groups, not a comparison against control.
• PTSystematic Review2024Exercise and Musculoskeletal Health in Men With Low Bone Mineral Density: A Systematic Review.Archives of rehabilitation research and clinical translationTwice-weekly resistance training maintained or increased bone density at the spine and hip in men with osteopenia or osteoporosis. Five men having machine-based compression training developed new spinal fractures. Lower-impact options such as Tai Chi and Qi Gong did not improve bone density.
• PTSystematic Review2024A systematic review: impact of dry needling, isometric, and eccentric exercises on pain and function in individuals with patellar tendinopathy.Frontiers in rehabilitation sciencesEccentric exercise and dry needling improved pain and function in athletes with jumper's knee over weeks to months; isometric holds relieved pain in the short term only. The nine trials were too small and too varied to say which works best.
• PTOTMeta-Analysis2023Prevalence and risks factors of caregiving-related low back pain among caregivers of stroke survivors: a systematic review and meta-analysis.European journal of physical and rehabilitation medicineAbout half of people caring for a stroke survivor get low back pain from caregiving (53.9% pooled across the 5 included studies). In the pooled analysis, men and women did not differ significantly, and neither did partial and complete caregivers.
• PTOTSystematic Review2023Efficacy of Prolotherapy for Osteoarthritis: A Systematic Review.Journal of rehabilitation medicineDextrose injections eased pain and improved function in knee, hand and hip osteoarthritis more than saline, exercise, steroid or radiofrequency in most of 14 randomised trials. Platelet-rich plasma and other injections beat dextrose in others, and the review rated the overall risk of bias high.
• PTRCT2023Treatment preference changes after exposure to treatment in adults with chronic low back pain.PM & R : the journal of injury, function, and rehabilitationAdults with chronic low back pain rated a familiar strength and flexibility programme lower a year after doing it, and a less familiar movement-retraining programme higher. In the familiar programme, the people who got the least pain relief dropped their rating the most.
• PTMeta-Analysis2022Platelet-Rich Plasma Injection in Non-Operative Treatment of Partial-Thickness Rotator Cuff Tears: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.Journal of rehabilitation medicinePRP injections eased pain and improved shoulder function more than placebo at every follow-up point in 641 people with partial-thickness rotator cuff tears, and more than steroid injections or physiotherapy at 8 to 12 weeks and past 24 weeks. The authors call the result not robust.
• PTMeta-Analysis2022The Relationship of Aging and Smoking With Rotator Cuff Disease: A Systematic Review and Meta-analysis.American journal of physical medicine & rehabilitationRotator cuff disease is much more common with age: every 10 years was linked to 1.20 times the odds, and people of 50 or over had 6.97 times the odds of those under 40. Smoking results were inconsistent.
• PTMeta-Analysis2025Repetitive peripheral magnetic stimulation for pain, disability, and kinesiophobia in patients with chronic musculoskeletal pain: a systematic review and meta-analysis.European journal of physical and rehabilitation medicineRepetitive magnetic stimulation added to rehabilitation reduced pain and disability in adults with chronic musculoskeletal pain, but not fear of movement. The eight trials were small, rated very low quality, and in several the stimulation was given alongside exercise.
• PTSystematic Review2025Systematic Review of Workplace Interventions to Support Young Workers' Safety, Work Environment and Health.Journal of occupational rehabilitationAcross 33 studies of workers aged 15 to 29, no workplace intervention had enough evidence behind it to change practice. Mindfulness, meditation and yoga did not reduce stress, and that was the strongest result.
• PTSystematic Review2021Digital Therapeutic Care and Decision Support Interventions for People With Low Back Pain: Systematic Review.JMIR rehabilitation and assistive technologiesPeople using app-based back pain programmes reported less pain and better function in all 12 studies reviewed, but only 4 of 6 randomised trials beat their comparison group, and 2 found no difference on pain. Most non-randomised evidence was at serious risk of bias.
• PTMeta-Analysis2025Effects of kinesio taping in patients undergoing knee or hip arthroplasty: a systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials.Journal of rehabilitation medicineAfter knee replacement, adding kinesio tape to usual rehabilitation reduced pain in the first week, lessened thigh and ankle swelling, and improved knee movement and function scores. The pain benefit was gone by follow-up, and taping did not reduce pain after hip replacement.
• PTRCT2025Combining procedural and behavioral treatments for chronic low back pain: A pilot feasibility randomized controlled trial.PM & R : the journal of injury, function, and rehabilitationVideo-based CBT improved back-related disability at three months far more than a self-directed book-and-telephone programme, by about 6 points on a 24-point scale. Radiofrequency nerve ablation did not clearly help. With 13 male Veterans, the trial is too small to settle anything.
• PTMeta-Analysis2024Comparing the Scores of The Functional Movement Screen™ in Individuals with Low Back Pain versus Healthy Individuals: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.International journal of sports physical therapyAdults with low back pain score lower on the Functional Movement Screen than adults without it, 1.81 lower on the 21-point total score in a pooled analysis of three studies. The authors call some single-test differences too small to matter clinically.
• PTSystematic Review2023Systematic Review to Inform a World Health Organization (WHO) Clinical Practice Guideline: Benefits and Harms of Transcutaneous Electrical Nerve Stimulation (TENS) for Chronic Primary Low Back Pain in Adults.Journal of occupational rehabilitationTENS made little or no difference to pain, function or quality of life for 1027 adults with chronic low back pain across 17 trials. The evidence was very low certainty and any pain relief was brief and below the study's own threshold for clinical importance.
• PTRCT2023Effects of low-intensity pulsed ultrasound on the infrapatellar fat pad in knee osteoarthritis: a randomized, double blind, placebo-controlled trial.Journal of physical therapy sciencePulsed ultrasound aimed at the fat pad under the kneecap, added to exercise, lowered the patellar tendon/tibia angle at all knee positions tested and improved walking pain, knee extension and Kujala scores more than exercise alone. Fat pad gliding, thickness and echo intensity did not change.
• PTPilot202212 weeks high intensity interval training versus moderate intensity continuous training in chronic low back pain subjects: a randomised single-blinded feasibility study.Archives of physiotherapyPeople with chronic low back pain attended about the same share of their cycling sessions whether they were assigned to hard intervals (94%) or steady moderate training (96%) over 12 weeks, with no serious harm in either group. Both groups' pain improved equally.
• PTSystematic Review2022Feasibility and Safety of Physical Exercise to Preserve Bone Health in Men With Prostate Cancer Receiving Androgen Deprivation Therapy: A Systematic Review.Physical therapyExercise looks feasible and safe for men having androgen deprivation therapy, though adherence varied from 43% to 96.3% and most trials recruited fewer men than planned. Thirty adverse events were attributed to exercise; three were severe, all during football training.
• PTMeta-Analysis2022Effects of low-intensity pulsed ultrasound on knee osteoarthritis: A systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials.Clinical rehabilitationLow-intensity pulsed ultrasound was linked to less pain and better knee function in osteoarthritis across 13 small trials, but in most of them it was added to exercise, drugs or TENS, so the ultrasound's own contribution is unclear.
• PTSystematic Review2025Return to Sport Criteria and Outcomes in Javelin Athletes Following Ulnar Collateral Ligament Reconstruction: a Systematic Review.International journal of sports physical therapyReturn to sport after elbow ligament reconstruction in javelin throwers was judged almost entirely by whether they finished a rehab and throwing programme on time. None of the four studies, covering 34 athletes, used strength, range of motion or throwing tests to clear anyone.
• PTMeta-Analysis2024Minimal Clinically Important Difference of the Disabilities of the Arm, Shoulder and Hand (DASH) and the Shortened Version of the DASH (QuickDASH) in People With Musculoskeletal Disorders: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.Physical therapyA change of about 12 to 14 points on the DASH, and about 12 to 15 on the QuickDASH, is the range the authors say patients notice. Pooled measurement error was 9.04 DASH points and 9.03 QuickDASH points.
• PTSystematic Review2023Systematic Review to Inform a World Health Organization (WHO) Clinical Practice Guideline: Benefits and Harms of Structured Exercise Programs for Chronic Primary Low Back Pain in Adults.Journal of occupational rehabilitationNo single exercise type clearly beat the comparison on its own. Pooled across all types, exercise probably eases pain and improves function in the weeks after the programme ends, but the average benefit is small and most individual type comparisons were uncertain.
• PTCohort2023Pulp-to-palm distance after plate fixation of a distal radius fracture corresponds to functional outcome.Archives of physiotherapyPatients who could not get their fingertips to their palm four weeks after plate surgery for a wrist fracture had worse wrist movement, grip strength and self-rated hand function at 3 and 6 months. Most differences had disappeared by 12 months.
• PTPilot2025Comparisons of the effects of psychologically-informed and usual physiotherapy on pain sensitivity in chronic low back pain: an exploratory randomized controlled trial.Archives of physiotherapyBoth approaches made people with chronic low back pain less sensitive to pressure after six weeks; adding psychological strategies to usual physiotherapy made no difference. Pain and disability improved in both groups. Without an untreated comparison it is unclear how much came from treatment.
• PTSystematic Review2024Hypertrophy Training Following A Total Hip Replacement: A Literature Review.International journal of sports physical therapyThirteen of the sixteen studies reported that post-surgical strengthening improved strength, function or both, but the programmes varied so widely that none can be called best practice. Only one hip replacement study looked at return to sport.
• PTSystematic Review2024An Evaluation of the Design of Multimedia Patient Education Materials in Musculoskeletal Health Care: Systematic Review.JMIR rehabilitation and assistive technologiesAcross 160 trials of multimedia patient education in musculoskeletal care, 118 never shared the materials patients saw, so the teaching cannot be copied or checked. Only 5 measured patient learning. The design faults seen most often: text repeating the picture, no recap activity.
• PTRCT2023No evidence for stratified exercise therapy being cost-effective compared to usual exercise therapy in patients with knee osteoarthritis: Economic evaluation alongside cluster randomized controlled trial.Brazilian journal of physical therapyAdding a stratified, subgroup-matched exercise programme gave no better knee pain, function or quality of life than usual physiotherapy, and its cost savings were too uncertain to call. The trial stopped early, with fewer patients than planned.
• PTRCT2024Embedded motivational interviewing combined with a smartphone application to increase physical activity in people with sub-acute low back pain: a cluster randomised controlled trial.Brazilian journal of physical therapyEmbedding motivational interviewing into usual physiotherapy, alongside a self-directed patient app, did not increase daily physical activity more than usual physiotherapy alone. Pain, disability and confidence improved more in the usual care group. The trial was underpowered.