Evidence map›Paper›PMID 37197389›Full record

ArticleFoot & ankle orthopaedics2023

Effectiveness of Postoperative Physiotherapy Compared to Postoperative Instructions by Treating Specialist Only in Patients With an Ankle Fracture: A Systematic Review.

Robyn Van Vehmendahl, Stijn D Nelen, Mouhcine El Hankouri, Michael J R Edwards, Albert F Pull Ter Gunne, Diederik P J Smeeing

Open access · goldAbstract read
In one paragraph

Article in Foot & ankle orthopaedics, 2023. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 1 paper.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
1citing papers in PubMed
0.7field-weighted citation impact, top 34% of its field
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

1 citing paper in PubMed, 3 citations in OpenAlex.

  1. Article
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

6 authors at 2 institutions in 1 country.

Robyn Van VehmendahlDepartment of Trauma Surgery, Radboud University Medical Centre, Nijmegen, the Netherlands.ORCID https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9546-9279
Stijn D NelenDepartment of Trauma Surgery, Radboud University Medical Centre, Nijmegen, the Netherlands.
Mouhcine El HankouriDepartment of Trauma Surgery, Radboud University Medical Centre, Nijmegen, the Netherlands.
Michael J R EdwardsDepartment of Trauma Surgery, Radboud University Medical Centre, Nijmegen, the Netherlands.
Albert F Pull Ter GunneDepartment of Trauma Surgery, Rijnstate Hospital, Arnhem, the Netherlands.
Diederik P J SmeeingDepartment of Trauma Surgery, Rijnstate Hospital, Arnhem, the Netherlands.
Radboud University Nijmegen · NLRijnstate Hospital · NL

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Background: In current literature, the benefit of postoperative physiotherapy versus postoperative instructions by treating specialist only remains unclear. The aim of this review is to systematically assess existing literature regarding the functional outcome of postoperative physiotherapy compared to postoperative instructions by treating specialist only in the rehabilitation of patients with an ankle fracture. The secondary aim is to determine if there is a difference in ankle range of motion, strength, pain, complications, quality of life, and patient's satisfaction between these 2 rehabilitation methods. Methods: For this review, the PubMed/MEDLINE, PEDro, Embase, Cochrane, and CINAHL databases were searched for studies that compared postoperative rehabilitation groups. Results: The electronic data search detected 20 579 articles. After exclusion, 5 studies with a total of 552 patients were included. Overall, no significant benefit in functional outcome of postoperative physiotherapy was seen compared to the instructions-only group. One study even found a significant benefit in favor of the instructions-only group. An exemption for beneficial effect of the use of physiotherapy could be made for younger patients, as 2 studies described younger age as a factor for better outcomes (functional outcome and ankle range of motion) in the postoperative physiotherapy group. Patients' satisfaction, described by one study, was found to be significantly higher in the physiotherapy group ( Conclusion: Because of the limited number of studies and the heterogeneity among studies, a valid conclusion about the general effect of physiotherapy cannot be formed. However, we identified limited evidence suggesting a possible benefit of physiotherapy in younger patients with an ankle fracture in functional outcome and ankle range of motion.

Indexed as

ankle fracturefunctional outcomephysiotherapyrehabilitation

Identifiers

PMID37197389
PMCPMC10184230
OpenAlexW4376504346

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
LicenceCC BY
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.