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 40 OF 41 · NEWEST FIRST

• PTOTSystematic Review2026Prolonged sitting in office environments: A scoping review of assessment methods.Work (Reading, Mass.)Self-report questionnaires and RULA dominate office posture research, while the more precise sensor and camera tools are confined to small lab samples. The review maps these trade-offs but does not identify a single method that resolves them.
• PTCohort2026Comparison of UNIQ and classic unipolar electrodes in TECAR therapy for low back pain: a retrospective cohort study.Journal of physical therapy scienceThe combined UNIQ electrode reduced pain more than the standard two-electrode approach after two weeks of TECAR therapy for low back pain. But this was a retrospective study with no randomisation, so it cannot prove the new electrode is better.
• PTPilot2026Effects of a preoperative exercise intervention targeting the non-operated limb in patients scheduled for total knee arthroplasty: a pilot study.Journal of physical therapy scienceActivity pain and chair-stand performance improved beyond measurement error after eight weeks of preoperative exercise in 24 patients awaiting knee replacement. Other gains in strength and range of motion were small enough to be within measurement error. Resting pain did not change.
• PTCase Report2026SPORT: A Novel Biopsychosocial Framework for Chronic Low Back Pain in a Young Athlete - A Case Report.International journal of sports physical therapyThe 45 lb squat with pain became a 335 lb pain-free squat over 17 weeks of progressive training, goal setting, pain education, and coach support in one 18-year-old athlete. This is one person, not a pattern, and the treating coach was also his friend.
• PTOTSystematic Review2026The association between trunk flexion and low back pain in blue-collar workers: A systematic review.Work (Reading, Mass.)Across four studies of blue-collar workers, objectively measured trunk flexion at work was not associated with increased low back pain. One study even found a small protective signal. The evidence is limited, from Northern and Western Europe only.
• PTOTSurvey2026Prevalence and risk factors for work-related musculoskeletal pain among flight attendants: A comparative study.Work (Reading, Mass.)Flight attendants' upper-limb pain dropped markedly between 2016 and 2024, but neck and lower-back pain stayed high. Stress, workload, and low job satisfaction were linked to pain in both years. The drop coincided with industry equipment updates.
• PTCohort2026Healthcare utilization in patients with spina bifida and bone fractures.Journal of rehabilitation medicinePatients with spina bifida in California had more bone fractures than an age-matched comparison group, especially in the legs, pelvis, and feet. The gap narrowed once their higher number of other health conditions was accounted for. Fractures also led to longer hospital stays.
• PTOTCohort2026Examination of occupational and physical therapists' exposure to physical risk factors in outpatient rehabilitation settings using the workplace ergonomics risk assessment and pain scale.Work (Reading, Mass.)93% of 98 therapists scored in the medium-risk band on a workplace ergonomics tool, and 91% reported pain after a single session. Pediatric therapists had the highest exposure. No significant link was found between the measured risk factors and pain levels.
• PTCase Report2026A case series evaluation of standardized exercise dosage using a cycle ergometer on body weight and patient-reported outcome measures among overweight female patients with knee osteoarthritis.Journal of physical therapy scienceA stepwise cycle-ergometer programme up to 10 KKW was safe in four overweight women with knee OA. One of three lost significant weight in the higher-dose phase; knee function scores improved in all. This is a case series, not proof the exercise works.
• PTOther2026The Association Between Patient Characteristics and Pain, Physical Function, and Quality of Life Among Patients with Hip Osteoarthritis: Explorative Study with Data from a Randomized Controlled Trial.International journal of sports physical therapyIn 159 patients with hip OA, greater leg muscle power was associated with better pain, function, and quality of life scores, while analgesic use was associated with worse scores. The authors caution these are exploratory associations, not evidence of cause.
• PTOther2026Intra-Session Reliability of Eccentric Countermovement Jump Kinetics in Individuals Six Months After Anterior Cruciate Ligament Reconstruction.International journal of sports physical therapyEccentric peak force and eccentric impulse from a countermovement jump are reliable within a single session in patients six months after ACL reconstruction. Eccentric rate of force development is not reliable, with the highest trial-to-trial variation of the three measures.
• PTOther2026Better Dynamic Balance as a Predictor of Better Horizontal Hop Performance: A Cross-Sectional Study.International journal of sports physical therapyBetter dynamic balance on the Y-Balance Test was associated with longer single-leg hop distances in 135 healthy young adults. The link held regardless of hip muscle strength level. The anterior reach direction showed no such association.
• PTRCT2026Therapeutic Effects of Capacitive and Resistive Monopolar Radiofrequency on Muscle Stiffness and Local Hemodynamics of the Rectus Femoris: A Randomized Crossover Study of Female University Soccer Players.International journal of sports physical therapyA 448-kHz radiofrequency device reduced rectus femoris stiffness in the stretched position immediately after treatment, more than a hot pack or sham. The effect was gone by 30 minutes. Deep-tissue oxygen levels stayed elevated at 30 minutes only after radiofrequency.
• PTCase-Control2026Influence of Pain on Rotator Cuff Muscle Size and Function: A Case-Control Study with Ultrasound Assessment of Cross-Sectional Area and Tendon Thickness.International journal of sports physical therapyRotator cuff muscle size was unchanged in people with shoulder pain and intact tendons. Strength deficits tracked with pain during testing, and endurance deficits persisted beyond pain, consistent with inhibition rather than atrophy as the mechanism of weakness.
• PTOther2026Countermovement Jump and Quantitative Electroencephalography Assessment in Division I Football Athletes: An Exploratory Neurophysiological Study of Return‑to‑Play Readiness.International journal of sports physical therapyFive medically cleared football athletes with prior lower-leg injuries jumped lower, landed with less force, and showed greater movement asymmetry than five uninjured teammates. These are descriptive comparisons only. No statistical tests were performed, and the brain-activity measures used a commercial system with no validation.
• PTOther2026Treatment Guidelines and Decision Tree for Dry Needling Musculoskeletal Conditions: A Consensus Statement.International journal of sports physical therapyNine PT experts agreed on a structured framework for deciding when, where, and how aggressively to apply dry needling, organized around patient irritability and tolerance. These are expert recommendations, not tested interventions.
• PTOther2026Diagnostic Musculoskeletal Ultrasound in the Evaluation of the Medial Hamstrings.International journal of sports physical therapyThis is a technique guide for scanning the medial hamstrings with ultrasound. It contains no research question, no participant data, and no outcomes to report.
• PTCohort2026Shoulder pain in amateur fast bowlers: A case example illustrating opportunities to embed prevention in undergraduate physiotherapy education.The South African journal of physiotherapyNine of 39 amateur fast bowlers (23%) developed shoulder pain during one season. Scapular dyskinesia, reduced internal rotation, increased external rotation, and poor scapular muscle endurance and strength were the screening measures most associated with that pain.
• PTSystematic Review2026ACL reconstruction postoperative rehabilitation in China: a bibliometrics study and visualization analysis via CiteSpace.Frontiers in rehabilitation sciencesChinese ACL rehab research has grown over 20 years, with proprioception, early rehabilitation, and functional exercise as the persistent hotspots. The field still lacks a unified standard for timing, intensity, or method, and early-rehab evidence remains thin.
• PTOTOther2026Comparison of pain, depression, quality of life, grip strength, and balance according to physical activity levels in office workers.Work (Reading, Mass.)Office workers classified as highly active reported less activity-related pain, higher general quality of life, and stronger grip than inactive workers. Depression did not differ between groups. This is a one-time comparison, not a treatment trial, so no causal claim is possible.
• PTSurvey2026Quality of life and physical activity levels of musculoskeletal disorders in workers exposed to high and low frequency magnetic fields: A comparative study.Work (Reading, Mass.)Welders exposed to high-frequency magnetic fields reported more musculoskeletal pain and lower quality of life than hospital staff or unexposed workers. The groups differ in occupation, gender, and education, and the design cannot establish whether the fields caused the difference.
• PTRCT2026Efficacy of Active Exercises to Improve Range of Motion in Knee Joint After Total Knee Arthroplasty. A Randomized Controlled Trial.Physiotherapy research international : the journal for researchers and clinicians in physical therapyDoing knee flexion exercises eight times a day instead of twice produced a 4.1° greater gain in flexion over 18 days in patients with knee flexion under 105° after knee replacement. Both groups improved substantially, and the extra gain was modest.
• PTOther2026Diagnostic Musculoskeletal Ultrasound in the Evaluation of the Lateral Proximal Hamstring (Biceps Femoris).International journal of sports physical therapyThis is a scanning technique guide for imaging the biceps femoris with ultrasound. It reports no patients and no outcomes.
• PTCohort2026Association Between Individual Functional Movement Screen™ Tasks and Sports Injury Occurrence in University Basketball Players: A Prospective Cohort Study.International journal of sports physical therapyThe standard FMS total score did not predict injury in 85 basketball players over one year. Scoring 2 or below on the deep squat was associated with 3.47 times higher odds of injury. The hurdle step trended the same way but did not reach significance.
• PTOther2026Translation, cross-cultural adaptation, and measurement properties of the Back pain knowledge and beliefs survey (BacKS) for the Brazilian population.Brazilian journal of physical therapyA validated Brazilian Portuguese version of a 20-item back pain knowledge and beliefs questionnaire is now available. It takes 6 minutes, scores from 20 to 100, and higher scores mean more evidence-based understanding. Use it to see what your patient already knows.
• PTCohort2026Association between Patellofemoral Conditions and the Incidence of ACL Injury: Could Patellofemoral Conditions be a Risk Factor for ACL Injury? A 10-year Population-Based Study.International journal of sports physical therapyPatellofemoral patients in this cohort had a 2.5% ACL injury rate, well above the general population rate of 68 per 100,000 per year. Most injuries hit the same knee, with a median of 10.5 months from diagnosis. No demographic factor independently predicted the risk.
• PTCase-Control2026Early Neuromuscular and Co-activation Patterns After Anterior Cruciate Ligament Reconstruction In Males: A Case-control Exploratory Feasibility Study.International journal of sports physical therapyTwo weeks after ACL reconstruction, the operated knee produced about half the quadriceps signal of a healthy knee, and hamstring co-activation was substantially higher across all muscle pairs. The non-operated knee also showed elevated co-activation.
• PTRCT2026The effect of ergonomics education on musculoskeletal system, posture and ergonomic risk in university students.Work (Reading, Mass.)Two weeks of ergonomics training lowered students' ergonomic risk scores and spine discomfort at one month, but left overall musculoskeletal complaints unchanged and had no consistent effect on postural awareness.
• PTNarrative Review2026Is Knee Osteoarthritis an Inevitable Consequence for Athletes after Anterior Cruciate Ligament Injury?International journal of sports physical therapyA position paper calling for sports physiotherapists to extend their role beyond return to sport into long-term knee health management after ACL injury. It reports no data of its own.
• PTOther2026The impact of a brief online education intervention on the knowledge, attitudes and beliefs of qualified physiotherapists about chronic low back pain: Pre- and post-intervention survey.The South African journal of physiotherapyA 5-hour online webinar on pain neuroscience and risk stratification moved 536 South African physiotherapists away from biomedical thinking toward biopsychosocial care, with measurable gains in pain knowledge. No control group, so we cannot say the webinars caused the change.
• PTSystematic Review2026The Effect of Duration of Supervised Rehabilitation on Outcomes Following Anterior Cruciate Ligament Reconstruction: A Systematic Review.International journal of sports physical therapyLonger supervised rehabilitation (six months or more) was associated with better strength, performance, and return-to-sport outcomes in seven of nine studies, but the only randomised trial found no difference and every study had moderate or serious risk of bias.
• PTRCT2026Efficacy of kinesiotaping during rehabilitation following total knee arthroplasty: a prospective randomised controlled trial.Journal of rehabilitation medicineAdding kinesiotape to standard inpatient rehab after knee replacement reduced postoperative swelling by a clinically meaningful amount (2.1 cm vs 0.9 cm) and modestly improved knee flexion. Pain and walking speed did not differ between groups.
• PTSystematic Review2026Morphological and Compositional Features of Lumbar Multifidus in Athletes with Chronic Non-specific Low Back Pain: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.International journal of sports physical therapyAthletes with chronic low back pain did not differ from pain-free peers in lumbar multifidus size, thickness, or fatty content. One study linked smaller multifidus to more lower-limb injuries; another linked fatty infiltration to lower return-to-sport odds.
• PTOther2026The association of lumbar paraspinal muscle size and quality with physical function, disability, and pain in adults with chronic low back pain.JOSPT openSpecific lumbar muscle size and quality showed small links to walking speed, balance, and abdominal endurance in chronic low back pain, but no link to disability or pain intensity. Muscle-alone variance was 2.6–5%; the authors call clinical significance unclear.
• PTQualitative2026Between the snap and the return: a prospective narrative analysis of four voices from inside anterior cruciate ligament reconstruction recovery.Physical therapyPatients described the physical therapist as a steady, grounding presence through ACL reconstruction recovery, while their own needs shifted from early uncertainty to mid-rehab motivation dips to trust-building at return to sport. The authors suggest matching communication to each phase rather than treating rehab as one uniform process.
• PTOther2026Why inverse simulations overestimate optimal ankle exoskeleton assistance: the role of bi-articular coordination and joint stiffness.Journal of neuroengineering and rehabilitationSimulations overestimate the best ankle exoskeleton setting because they ignore two things: the gastrocnemius must stay partly active to flex the knee, and silencing the soleus (which provides most ankle stiffness) makes the joint too floppy. Current models don't account for either.
• PTRCT2026Is outcome observed in performance of clinical tests associated with patient-reported outcome measures after patellofemoral pain treatment? Secondary analysis of data from a randomized clinical trial.Brazilian journal of physical therapyAmong 157 people with patellofemoral pain, step-up repetitions were the clinical test most strongly linked to patient-reported improvements, though the relationship was modest. Step-down showed a weaker association; squat showed none. These tests explain only part of what drives a patient's perceived change.
• PTPilot2026Effectiveness of manual therapy with pragmatic physiotherapy for rotator cuff-related shoulder pain: a pilot randomized clinical trial.Archives of physiotherapyBoth groups improved on the shoulder disability score, and the gap between them stayed under the 11-point threshold set in advance. This pilot confirms a full trial is workable but does not yet show whether manual therapy adds benefit.
• PTCohort2026Depressive symptoms score and risk of incident spinal pain in middle-aged and elderly populations: a prospective cohort study based on china health and retirement longitudinal study data.European journal of physical and rehabilitation medicineHigher depressive symptoms scores were independently linked to a greater risk of developing spinal pain over 9 years in middle-aged and older Chinese adults. The top group had 2.58 times the odds of the lowest, and dyslipidemia weakened but did not erase the link.
• PTOTCohort2026Retrospective observational analysis of limitations in activities of daily living in a large cohort of patients with clinical obesity.European journal of physical and rehabilitation medicineFull dependence in daily tasks among obese adults in rehabilitation was associated with older age, higher weight, and lower muscle strength; continence and toileting were the most affected activities (n=3,229).
• PTCohort2026Characteristics of short-term walking ability and cognitive function in patients with postoperative hip fractures classified by age group.Journal of physical therapy science37.8% of the old group and 12.8% of the super-old group walked independently two weeks after hip fracture surgery. The Mini-Mental State Examination cutoff for independent walking was higher in the super-old group (≥24 vs ≥20), so age-specific benchmarks matter for discharge planning.
• PTPilot2026Immediate effects of an ankle assist device on gait recovery after total hip arthroplasty.Journal of physical therapy scienceAnkle-assist device training produced a greater within-session increase in gait speed at postoperative week 2 than standard therapy (0.03 vs −0.01 m/s). The effect is small, from a non-randomized, unblinded study of 57 and 39 patients.
• PTRCT2026Frontline agreement in diagnosis and treatment for musculoskeletal dysfunctions. A prospective, randomized, controlled study.Archives of physiotherapyPhysiotherapists with 4 to over 15 years' experience showed substantial to almost perfect agreement with senior physicians on diagnosis and management of non-urgent musculoskeletal complaints in an ED. 97% of patients rated their care as excellent or very satisfactory.
• PTSurvey2026Factors Affecting Clinical Decision Making for Blood Flow Restriction Training in Pediatric and Adolescent Patients Following Anterior Cruciate Ligament Injury.International journal of sports physical therapyMost PTs let pain level, knee swelling, and time from surgery drive their BFRT decisions in kids and teens after ACLR, but 55% won't use it on younger patients and only half have a rule for when to stop. There is no consensus on timing or discontinuation criteria.
• PTCase-Control2026Triceps Surae Neuromuscular Activity During Single-leg Jumping Tasks in Individuals After Anterior Cruciate Ligament Reconstruction.International journal of sports physical therapyAt about six months post-ACLR, soleus activation during single-leg jumps was significantly lower than in healthy controls, even in athletes who had met return-to-running criteria. The operated and non-operated legs showed no difference from each other.
• PTCase Report2026Figure-of-Eight Taping Combined with Rehabilitation for Multidirectional Shoulder Instability in a School-Age Female Karate Athlete: A Case Report.International journal of sports physical therapyA 12-year-old karate athlete with multidirectional shoulder instability improved over five months of combined exercise therapy and taping, reaching 180° of flexion and resuming competition. One patient, no control group, and taping was one of several components. No single treatment can be credited.
• PTCohort2026Isokinetic Quadriceps Strength at Slower Speeds Following ACLR More Strongly Influences Hop Test Performance in Adolescent Athletes.International journal of sports physical therapyQuadriceps strength at 60°/sec was the only isokinetic speed linked to hop test performance in adolescents about 6 months after ACL reconstruction. But it explained only 23–57% of hop performance, so strength alone is far from the whole picture.
• PTNarrative Review2026Physical activity and exercise for the management of chronic low back pain as a component of multimorbidity: from problem to practice.Brazilian journal of physical therapyThis is a clinical guidance review, not a research report. It synthesizes existing evidence and offers practical recommendations for managing chronic low back pain alongside other long-term conditions, but reports no original participants, intervention, or outcomes of its own.
• PTSystematic Review2026Exploration of lifestyle interventions for individuals with knee osteoarthritis: A scoping review.The South African journal of physiotherapyA scoping review of 36 studies (4,025 participants) maps lifestyle interventions for knee OA. Combined programmes (exercise plus education, diet, or psychological support) tend to outperform single-component approaches, but the studies are too varied in design and outcomes to give one clear recommendation.
• PTOther2026Psychometric properties of loaded and unloaded timed stair tests in assessing people with knee osteoarthritis.Journal of rehabilitation medicineA timed stair-climbing test is a reliable, easy-to-administer tool for assessing stair function in knee osteoarthritis. It needs only a staircase and a stopwatch, and can distinguish affected patients from healthy older adults.