Abstract Purpose To evaluate the effectiveness of integrating a digital health application (Orthopy app) into standard rehabilitation following meniscus surgery, with or without concomitant anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) injury. Methods In this multicenter, prospective, randomized controlled trial across four orthopaedic referral centres, patients aged ≥18 years with a confirmed meniscus injury scheduled for surgery were randomized to receive either standard of care (SoC) alone (control group, CG) or SoC plus the Orthopy app (intervention group, IG). The app provided tailored pre‐ and postoperative exercise programmes, educational content and progress tracking. The primary endpoint was the change from baseline to 14 weeks postoperatively ( t 5) in the Knee injury and Osteoarthritis Outcome Score (KOOS) Symptoms and Functional Limitations subscale. Secondary endpoints included other patient‐reported outcomes, namely, further KOOS subscales and visual analogue scales (VAS) for pain and function. Analyses used mixed models for repeated measures and included only symptomatic patients at baseline (all KOOS subscales ≤ 85). Results Of 227 randomized symptomatic patients (IG n = 104, CG n = 123; mean age 47 ± 16 vs. 45 ± 15 years; body mass index BMI 26.1 ± 4.5 vs. 26.8 ± 4.6 kg/m 2 ), 28% (IG) and 30% (CG) underwent meniscus repair, 58% and 52% partial meniscectomy, and 27% (IG) and 31% (CG) had concomitant ACL injury. At t 5, the IG showed significantly greater KOOS Symptoms improvement than the CG (delta estimated marginal mean ΔEMM = 5.49, p = 0.016, d = 0.44), corresponding to a 45% relative increase from baseline. Significant benefits for the IG were also observed in KOOS Pain at 2 weeks postoperatively and t 5, KOOS Sports/Recreation at t 4 and VAS Pain at t 3 and t 5. No between‐group differences were found for KOOS Activities of Daily Living, Quality of Life or VAS Function. Median rehabilitation sessions were slightly lower in the IG (17 2, 32) vs. CG (18 6, 42). Conclusion Adding a digital add‐on therapy to SoC significantly improved early postoperative symptoms and pain after meniscus surgery. These findings support integrating digital tools into orthopaedic rehabilitation to enhance recovery and potentially optimize resource use. Level of Evidence Level I, randomized controlled trial.
Bode et al. (Wed,) studied this question.