Arthroplasty (Aug 2023)

The role of telemedicine in joint replacement surgery? An updated review

  • Ka Yau Li,
  • Ping Keung Chan,
  • Shun Shing Yeung,
  • Amy Cheung,
  • Wai Kwan Vincent Chan,
  • Michelle Hilda Luk,
  • Man Hong Cheung,
  • Henry Fu,
  • Kwong Yuen Chiu

DOI
https://doi.org/10.1186/s42836-023-00196-1
Journal volume & issue
Vol. 5, no. 1
pp. 1 – 9

Abstract

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Abstract The usage of telemedicine and telehealth services has grown tremendously and has become increasingly relevant and essential. Technological advancements in current telehealth services have supported its use as a viable alternative tool to conduct visits for consultations, follow-up, and rehabilitation in total joint arthroplasty. Such technology has been widely implemented, particularly during the coronavirus 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, to deliver postoperative rehabilitation among patients receiving total joint arthroplasty (TJA), further demonstrating its feasibility with a lower cost yet comparable clinical outcomes when compared with traditional care. There remains ample potential to utilize telemedicine for prehabilitation to optimize the preoperative status and postoperative outcomes of patients with osteoarthritis. In this review, various implementations of telemedicine within total joint arthroplasty and future application of telemedicine to deliver tele-prehabilitation in TJA are discussed.

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