Abstract
Introduction
Surface sensor technology provides useful information about the status of an individual's health and been available for many years, but has not been widely adopted by orthopaedic surgeons. However, its usage may be become more prominent as COVID-19 has created a shift towards telemedicine. This study reports the use of a joint specific surface sensor to remotely monitor the recovery of patients who underwent knee replacement surgery prior to the enforced stay-at-home social distancing necessitated by the COVID-19 pandemic.
Methods
The study group consisted of 29 patients who underwent primary, unilateral total knee arthroplasty (TKA). A knee joint specific surface sensor (TracPatch™) was placed following surgery and kept on patients for 3 weeks postoperatively. The patients’ range of motion (ROM), exercise compliance, distance walked, pain, skin temperature, and incision appearance were monitored and transmitted electronically to health care providers. Patients were grouped by gender, age and BMI for analysis of functional outcome measurements.
Results
Patients tolerated wearing the device without complications. Additionally, both patients and physicians were able to monitor patient data in real time via a mobile phone or web application. The mean maximum flexion and minimum extension did not significantly change from postoperative week 1 to postoperative week 2 and week 3. However, the mean number of steps taken increased from 4,923 steps in postoperative week 1 to 8,163 steps week 2 (p=0.01) and 11,615 steps week 3 (p<0.001) postoperatively. There were no statistically significant differences in ROM or number of steps between the different gender, age, and BMI groups.
Conclusion
The use of a joint specific surface sensor that provides novel pre- and postsurgical information is a valuable addition to surgeons’ remote care capability. These devices promise to accelerate the adoption of telehealth by orthopedic surgeons.
