Background: Objective assessment of shoulder joint active range of motion (AROM) is critical to monitor patient progress after conservative or surgical intervention. Advancements in miniature devices have led researchers to validate inertial sensors to capture human movement. This study investigated the construct validity as well as intra- and inter-rater reliability of active shoulder mobility measurements using a coupled system of inertial sensors and the Microsoft Kinect (HumanTrak). Methods: 50 healthy participants with no history of shoulder pathology were tested bilaterally for fixed and free ROM: (1) shoulder flexion, and (2) abduction using HumanTrak and goniometry. The repeat testing of the standardised protocol was completed after seven days by two physiotherapists. Results: All HumanTrak shoulder movements demonstrated adequate reliability (intra-class correlation (ICC) ≥ 0.70). HumanTrak demonstrated higher intra-rater reliability (ICCs: 0.93 and 0.85) than goniometry (ICCs: 0.75 and 0.53) for measuring free shoulder flexion and abduction AROM, respectively. Similarly, HumanTrak demonstrated higher intra-rater reliability (ICCs: 0.81 and 0.94) than goniometry (ICCs: 0.70 and 0.93) for fixed flexion and abduction AROM, respectively. Construct validity between HumanTrak and goniometry was adequate except for free abduction. The differences between raters were predominately acceptable and below ±10°. Conclusions: These results indicated that the HumanTrak system is an objective, valid and reliable way to assess and track shoulder ROM.

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Background: Currently there is significant variation in the management of venous thromboembolism prophylaxis following total knee arthroplasty (TKA). Excessive wound ooze and bleeding is thought to increase a patient's risk of haematoma formation and possible infection. We evaluated the rate of unexpected reoperation in the perioperative period in patients who received aspirin, rivaroxaban or enoxaparin following primary TKA. Method: A systematic literature search was conducted in MEDLINE, CENTRAL and Embase to identify patients who underwent primary TKA. Two researchers independently reviewed the references identified in the literature search. The final 11 studies included for review were published between 1996 and 2016. Results: There was a higher rate of reoperation in patients treated with aspirin following TKA when compared to enoxaparin and rivaroxaban in the perioperative period. Of the 5141 patients treated with enoxaparin, 11 (0.21%) required reoperation; of the 2764 patients treated with rivaroxaban, 12 (0.43%) required reoperation; and of the 228 patients treated with aspirin, seven (3.07%) required reoperation. The average time to follow-up in the 11 studies was 55 days, ranging from 30 to 180 days post-operatively. Conclusion: There was a higher rate of reoperation in patients treated with aspirin following TKA when compared to enoxaparin and rivaroxaban in the perioperative period. While there is extensive data on the safety and efficacy of these medications following joint arthroplasty, improved reporting of surgically relevant outcomes are needed to assist both the surgeon and patient in clinical decision-making.