Introduction: Robot-assisted visits, as part of telemedicine, can offer doctors the opportunity to take care of patients. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, there has been an increase in telemedicine. The use of teleconsultations, for example, has found its way into the German health care system. However, the practicability and the benefit of robot-assisted postoperative visits have not been systematically investigated in any study worldwide. Methods: Patients were enrolled in a prospective randomized study comparing the standard postoperative visit with the doctor on call and the digital visit through the Double robot between December 2019 and April 2022. All patients and doctors completed a survey after the visit. The primary outcome was patient satisfaction. Secondary outcomes included patients\' pain, hospitalization time, and patients\' opinions about the usefulness of the robot. Likert scales of arithmetic mean, standard deviation, and subgroup analyses with the Mann-Whitney U test and the Fisher\'s exact test were used to compare outcomes. Results: We enrolled a total of 106 patients: 54 (50.9%) of them underwent the robot visit and 52 (49.1%) underwent the conventional visit. Baseline demographic and clinical characteristics were similar between groups. Our primary outcome was the same in both arms. Similar results were obtained for the secondary endpoints. Conclusion: Robot-televisits were comparable with standard visits including satisfaction, usefulness, and time of hospitalization. Digitalization in medicine is an irreversible process, especially after the COVID-19 pandemic. We hope that our study will provide concrete help to encourage the allocation of funds for telemedicine in Germany\'s health care system.

OBJECTIVE: Postoperative protocols following surgical management of supracondylar humerus fractures (SCFs) are often based upon surgeon preference rather than clinical merit. The purpose of this study is to determine the utility of early clinical and radiographic follow-up.
METHODS: A retrospective review of patients who underwent closed reduction and percutaneous pinning (CRPP) for SCF between 2009 and 2015 was performed using a database of prospectively-collected consecutive patient data. Previously undiagnosed neuropathies documented at the first postoperative visit were identified. Unscheduled visits and postoperative complications were compared between patients who were seen at one week and those with delayed first clinic visits.
RESULTS: Of 873 patients, 823 (94.3%) were seen within ten days of surgery (early follow-up) and 50 (5.7%) had a delayed first clinic appointment. Among patients seen for early follow-up, 12 (1.5%) had a previously undocumented neuropathy diagnosed but only eight (1%) had an alteration of management secondary to clinical findings. Greater than 90% of patients seen for early follow-up had radiographs performed, but only one had an alteration in management due to radiographic findings. Patients seen for early follow-up had the same rate of unscheduled visits (2.9% versus 4%, p = 0.66) and postoperative complications (1.6% versus 0%, p > 0.99) as those with delayed first appointments. Radiographic parameters were comparable at final follow-up (Baumann\'s angle 74.5° versus 73.7°, p = 0.40; lateral humeral condylar angle 40.2° versus 41.2°, p = 0.53).
CONCLUSIONS: The early follow-up visit after CRPP of SCF rarely leads to alterations in care and does not reduce unscheduled visits or late complications.
METHODS: Level IV.

UNASSIGNED: After rotator cuff repair, some patients have ongoing problems significant enough to warrant presentation to a clinic for reassessment.
UNASSIGNED: The purpose of this study was to determine whether this cohort of patients was more likely to have a healed rotator cuff. We hypothesized that patients who had an unscheduled postoperative visit were more likely to have a healed rotator cuff than those who did not have an unscheduled postoperative visit.
UNASSIGNED: Cohort study; Level of evidence, 3.
UNASSIGNED: A total of 321 consecutive patients who underwent arthroscopic rotator cuff repair were evaluated; of these, 50 patients had an unscheduled return to clinic that included an ultrasound assessment of the cuff repair within 4 months postoperatively. Repair integrity was evaluated in all patients at 6 months postoperatively via ultrasonography.
UNASSIGNED: The failure-to-heal rate was greater in patients who had an unscheduled assessment (8/50; 16%) than in those who did not (14/275; 5%) (P = .01). The patients most likely to have a repair failure were those who were assessed before 2 weeks and after 12 weeks (7/18; 39%) compared with those who were assessed between 3 and 12 weeks (1/32; 3%) (P = .001). The failure-to-heal rate was very low in patients who had an unscheduled assessment with a tear size smaller than 4 cm2 (0/34; 0%) compared with those with tear sizes greater than 4 cm2 (8/16; 50%) (P < .0001, Fisher exact text).
UNASSIGNED: Patients who had an unscheduled clinic visit after rotator cuff repair had a 16% chance of a failed healing response, whereas those who did not have an unscheduled visit had a 5% rate of failed healing. The risk of a failed healing response was greater if the tear was larger than 4 cm2, if patients presented within 2 weeks following surgery, or if they presented after 12 weeks postsurgery.