Comparison of Clinical Outcomes Between the Slider Device and Standard Physiotherapy for Knee Osteoarthritis Patients Undergoing Knee Replacement Surgery: A Pilot Study

5 pages•Published: January 5, 2026

Stephen McDonald, Jun Wei Lim, Karthikeyan Shanmugam, Shameem Sampath, Andrew Johnston and James Bidwell

Abstract

Objectives: Physiotherapy is an established part of the post-operative protocol for total knee replacement (TKR). As length of hospital stay has decreased, rehabilitation has moved to the home setting with little direct supervision. The Slider, a smart exercise device utilises gamification to optimize patient engagement during self-directed physiotherapy. This pilot study aimed to evaluate whether the Slider device in addition to standard physiotherapy could improve outcomes following TKR.
Methods: 18 patients undergoing robotic primary TKR surgery at a single institution. Nine patients were allocated to the Slider group (device & standard physiotherapy) and nine patients to the standard physiotherapy group. Outcome measures included range of motion (ROM), Oxford Knee Score (OKS), EQ-5D-3L, and patient-reported outcome measures (PROMs) at six weeks postoperatively.
Results: Intraoperative and discharge ROM values were similar between groups (124 vs. 123, p=0.430; 76 vs. 78, p=0.624). Six-week postoperative ROM was superior in the Slider group (104 vs. 89, p=0.121). The Slider group had a shorter hospital stay and a similar number of inpatient physiotherapy sessions (2 vs. 3, p=0.332; and 4 vs. 4, p=0.999). The Slider group reported higher Likert scale satisfaction scores for post-op care (p=0.017). Both OKS and EQ-5D-3L were better in the Slider group, with OKS reaching statistical significance (39 vs. 33, p=0.045; 85 vs. 79, p=0.778).
Conclusion: The Slider device aids early patient rehabilitation after total knee replacement, improving OKS and satisfaction scores. This device shows promise in supporting home-based rehabilitation and will allow clinicians to supervise the process and identify struggling patients early.

Keyphrases: device assisted physiotherapy, outpatient arthroplasty, rehabilitation technology, technology assisted rehabilitation

In: Joshua William Giles and Aziliz Guezou-Philippe (editors). Proceedings of The 25th Annual Meeting of the International Society for Computer Assisted Orthopaedic Surgery, vol 8, pages 124-128.

Links:	https://easychair.org/publications/paper/HHJd
	https://doi.org/10.29007/cfk9

BibTeX entry

@inproceedings{CAOS2025:Comparison_Clinical_Outcomes_Between,
  author    = {Stephen McDonald and Jun Wei Lim and Karthikeyan Shanmugam and Shameem Sampath and Andrew Johnston and James Bidwell},
  title     = {Comparison of Clinical Outcomes Between the Slider Device and Standard Physiotherapy for Knee Osteoarthritis Patients Undergoing Knee Replacement Surgery: A Pilot Study},
  booktitle = {Proceedings of The 25th Annual Meeting of the International Society for Computer Assisted Orthopaedic Surgery},
  editor    = {Joshua William Giles and Aziliz Guezou-Philippe},
  series    = {EPiC Series in Health Sciences},
  volume    = {8},
  publisher = {EasyChair},
  bibsource = {EasyChair, https://easychair.org},
  issn      = {2398-5305},
  url       = {/publications/paper/HHJd},
  doi       = {10.29007/cfk9},
  pages     = {124-128},
  year      = {2026}}

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