Although “hands-on” physical therapy is a good option for many situations, it can also prove costly and time-consuming. Sometimes patients may be pushed too hard which can lead to increased pain or even injury.
Active physical therapy does no improve outcomes following reverse total shoulder arthritis: A multi-center randomized clinical study compared the range-of-motion (ROM), and patient-reported outcomes(PROs) between a structured home exercises program (HEP) that included a handout, a rope pulley, and prescribed supervised psychotherapy (PT) after primary reverse complete shoulder arthroplasty.
They credit Sarah Jackins, a founding member of American Society of Shoulder and Elbow Therapists, for the home exercise program (see this link).
All the patients included in the study were fitted with Grammont-style implants. They did not need to have their subscapularis repaired. 89 patients were randomly assigned to PT and 46 to HEP. One-year follow-up was done on 83 patients (93%), and ROM on 73 patients (82%). Nine patients (20%) were transferred from HEP/PT, while 2 patients (4%) were transferred from PT/HEP.
It is fascinating to see the difference between comfort and…
Continue reading…
