The Effectiveness of Postoperative Physical Therapy Treatment in Patients Who Have Undergone Arthroscopic Partial Meniscectomy: Systematic Review With Meta-analysis

Study Design Systematic review with meta-analysis. Objectives To evaluate the effectiveness of postoperative physical therapy treatment for patients who have undergone arthroscopic partial meniscectomy. Background There is no consensus on which treatment is best for patients post meniscectomy. Methods A search for articles published from 1950 to March 2013 was conducted in the MEDLINE, Embase, CINAHL, LILACS, SciELO, IBECS, Scopus, Web of Science, PEDro, Academic Search Premier, and Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials databases. The key words were physiotherapy, physical therapy modalities, exercise therapy, rehabilitation, knee, placebo, groups, tibial meniscus, meniscus, arthroscopy, meniscectomy, partial meniscectomy, randomized controlled trial, controlled clinical trial, randomized, systematic review, and meta-analysis. Results Eighteen randomized controlled trials were included in the review, 6 of which were included in the meta-analysis. Outpatient physical therapy plus a home exercise p...