OE Journal

ORIGINAL ANALYSIS

Digitally Assisted Postoperative Rehabilitation – Is the future of postoperative recovery close to home?

Digital, at-home rehabilitation is reshaping post-operative care. As orthopaedic procedures surge worldwide, centre-based rehab faces two stubborn barriers—high cost and poor continuity. Digitally-assisted rehabilitation (DAR)—spanning tele-visits, apps, wearables, motion capture, and VR—promises scalable, personalized recovery and saw explosive uptake during COVID-19. This review maps the fast-growing market and active trials, then synthesizes outcomes across surgery types: DAR commonly matches standard physiotherapy for pain and global function, while showing signals of benefit in disease-specific indices and quality-of-life. Evidence is heterogeneous and often at risk of bias, underscoring the need for standardized protocols, consistent outcome sets, and cost-effectiveness data. The question is no longer whether DAR belongs in orthopaedics, but how to deploy it for maximal value.