TELEREHABILITATION OF THE KNEE JOINTS OF PATIENTS WITH POLYTRAUMA

Abstract

The aim: The overarching theme of this paper is to discuss implementation of the telemedicine technology for rehabilitation of patients with injuries of the lower extremities. Materials and methods: Consecutive patients were recruited over a four-year period. A total of 48 polytrauma patients with lower extremity injuries were enrolled in the study after the resolution of the surgical sequelae. 16 patients from the control group underwent traditional rehabilitation procedures for a 3-week period after injury. A total of 32 subjects were enrolled in the telerehabilitation group for a 3-week study period after injury and were trained with a set of exercises for home use. Home remote monitoring for the 96 test subjects included use of a Portable device with Axis-sensor, temperature and volume sensors, that were fixed to the injured limb. Software permits the monitoring of exercise time, local temperature, the biomechanics of active movements of the injured limb. Results: The orthopedic surgeon during telerehabilitation took significantly less time to consult patients (1.9 minutes) than the traditional rehabilitation (15.2 minutes). Patient satisfaction was higher for the telerehabilitation with machine learning algorithm (78.3%) than for the orthopedic surgeon’s traditional rehabilitation (36.7%). Conclusions: Subjects reported a higher satisfaction with telerehabilitation than with the traditional orthopedic rehabilitation due to the fact that they spent less time at the hospital and had more time for exercises at home under orthopedic remote monitoring. The telerehabilitation system can be used in complex rehabilitation of patients with injuries of the lower extremities.