Continuous Passive Motion, Early Weight Bearing, and Active Motion following Knee Articular Cartilage Repair: Evidence for Clinical Practice

Howard JS, Mattacola CG, Romine SE, Lattermann C · Cartilage

Basic-science evidence supports continuous passive motion for maintaining range of motion, reducing pain and promoting healing, but patient-oriented outcomes are so sparse that the recommendation rates only C on the Strength of Recommendation Taxonomy. Early weight bearing and active range of motion rate B, on limited clinical research with patient-oriented outcomes.

Population

Sixteen articles on postoperative rehabilitation after knee articular cartilage repair — twelve basic-science studies and four clinical

Intervention

Continuous passive motion, active range of motion, and early weight bearing after cartilage repair

Limitations

Sixteen articles, three quarters of them basic science, and the review's own point is that the practice with the most laboratory support has the least patient-oriented evidence behind it. Not a meta-analysis and not pooled. A 2010 search, so it predates the accelerated-rehabilitation trials that followed.