Telerehabilitation Following Meniscectomy

NYU Langone Health60 enrolled

Overview

Telerehabilitation is a form of tele-treatment in which rehabilitation services are dispensed at patients' home utilizing video telecommunication services with real-time synchronous exchange of information. Since telerehabilitation was found to be equally effective as conventional therapy, it was being practiced even before the COVID times, however it was truly valuable during the lockdown. The advantages of telerehabilitation include reducing unnecessary travel to the hospital and person to person contact while maintaining social distancing. While some of the patients are truly staying at remote areas, others are unable to manage travel in the lockdown period. Telemedicine offers the opportunity to deliver rehabilitative services in the patients' home, closing geographic, physical, and motivational gaps. Punctuality on either side is also assured since the travel times are saved on both the ends. The purpose of the proposed study is to evaluate telerehabilitation vs in-person rehabilitation following Meniscectomy.

Study Type

INTERVENTIONAL

Allocation

RANDOMIZED

Purpose

OTHER

Masking

NONE

Enrollment

Conditions

Meniscectomy

Interventions

Eligibility

Sex: ALLMin age: 18 YearsMax age: 75 Years

Medical Language ↔ Plain English

Inclusion Criteria: * Scheduled for meniscectomy * Age 18-75 * Ability to comply with a standardized postoperative protocol * Willing and able to provide consent Exclusion Criteria: * Pregnant patient * Age \>75 years, or \< 18 * Previous knee surgery * Unable to speak English or perform informed consent

Outcomes

Primary Outcomes

Visual Analogue Scale (VAS) Score

VAS is a validated, subjective measure for acute and chronic pain. Scores are recorded by making a handwritten mark on a 10-cm line that represents a continuum between "no pain" and "worst pain." The total score ranges from 0-10. The higher the score, the worse the pain.

Time frame: up to 1 year post-op

International Knee Documentation Committee (IKDC) Score

The IKDC is a patient-completed tool, which contains sections on knee symptoms (7 items), function (2 items), and sports activities (2 items). Scores range from 0 points (lowest level of function or highest level of symptoms) to 100 points (highest level of function and lowest level of symptoms).