Comparison of the effectiveness of two management strategies in the pandemic COVID-19 period in patient visits (face-to-face visits vs. a smartphone) in follow-up the range of motion of the knee in patients with anterior cruciate ligament reconstruction

As the prevalence of the coronavirus increases, there is now more emphasis on reducing “face‑to‑face” patient visits. Therefore, the use of smartphones and their special medical applications can play an important role in following up patients. The aim of this study was to evaluate the use of smartphone in evaluating clinical outcomes and range of motion (ROM) of patients after anterior cruciate ligament reconstruction (ACLR).

From January to December 2020, 112 patients between 20 and 50 years old were randomly selected at our orthopedic sports center. All patients were visited online through smartphone by a knee fellowship surgeon in the morning (case group) and again all of them were visited online through smartphone in the evening by another knee fellowship surgeon (control group). Both visits were done at regular intervals in the 2nd, 6th, and 12th week after surgery. Patients were evaluated for function outcomes and joint ROM.

The two groups were similar in terms of mean International Knee Documentation Committee score, Lysholm knee score, and Tegner Knee Score and did not show statistically significant difference (P < 0.05) There was no significant difference in knee ROM measurements between the two groups (face‑to‑face visits and online through smartphone visits) during the follow‑ups (P > 0.05).

Smartphone apps are highly effective in assessing postoperative condition of knee ROM after ACLR, especially in the short time. However, this ability has been reduced in evaluating the long term. Hence, evaluation is still necessary through direct examination in the presence visit.