Telerehabilitation Methods in Orthopedic Rehabilitation

Abstract

Telerehabilitation is providing medical rehabilitation services remotely using electronic information and communication technologies. It means the two-way transfer of images of the physiotherapist and the patient to each other. In recent years, telerehabilitation practices have the potential to be a cost-effective alternative for patients living in remote areas and having problems reaching the hospital. For this reason, it is frequently used for its benefits, such as reducing patient travel barriers, providing flexible exercise hours, and facilitating better integration of skills into daily life. Telerehabilitation services can be applied to all patient populations and healthcare settings. Disorders such as osteoarthritis, osteoporosis, fractures, rheumatoid arthritis, and waist and neck pain, which have an essential place among orthopedic diseases, are some of the significant public health problems that are increasingly common all over the world. Tele-orthopedics, one of the methods used in the follow-up of orthopedic diseases, is one of the essential methods that has become widespread in patients. Telerehabilitation methods and training are used to rehabilitate orthopedic and musculoskeletal diseases. These methods include videos, telephone, videoconferencing platforms, or virtual reality. It is reported in the literature that telerehabilitation in orthopedic diseases will reduce healthcare costs, improve compliance with treatment, and provide physical and mental recovery. This section discusses current telerehabilitation approaches in orthopedic diseases’ operative and nonoperative periods. In addition, the extent to which telerehabilitation applications are used with current literature information will be examined.