https://medicalxpress.com/orthopedics-news/ en-us Latest medical news and research in Orthopaedics Somewhere in the world, a woman over 50 will have fractured a bone by the time you finish reading this sentence due to osteoporosis, a silent bone disease that can weaken the structural integrity of the skeletal system and a person's quality of life. The disease weakens bones and makes them more likely to break because of reduced bone mineral density and bone mass, and it affects an estimated 75 million people across Europe, the USA, and Japan. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-09-osteoporosis-fractures-fall-small-human.html Wed, 16 Sep 2026 12:30:01 EDT news708777910 Knee osteoarthritis is a widespread and painful joint condition. It causes chronic pain, cartilage breakdown and trouble moving. Doctors rely on X-rays and patient surveys to track how the disease progresses. These traditional methods have a major blind spot. They do not show how a person actually moves during daily life outside a clinical exam. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-09-wearable-sensors-accurately-track-knee.html Wed, 16 Sep 2026 10:40:03 EDT news708769802 An abundance of clinical trials has shown that exercise reduces pain and facilitates everyday activities like climbing stairs for individuals with osteoarthritis. But researchers from the University of South Carolina, McMaster University and the University of Delaware believe it's time for a mindset shift. Instead of viewing exercise as a temporary treatment for the condition, clinicians and patients should view physical activity as a lifelong behavior. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-09-it-time-to-change-how.html Thu, 10 Sep 2026 15:40:07 EDT news708262449 Two UCLA Health doctors, both faculty in the Department of Orthopedic Surgery at the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA and team physicians for UCLA Athletics and professional sports teams, are accompanying the 2026 U.S. Basketball Women's National Team at the 2026 FIBA Women's World Cup, which began Sept. 4 in Berlin. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-09-elite-women-basketball-players-healthy.html Thu, 10 Sep 2026 07:20:05 EDT news708235261 Researchers at The University of Manchester and Manchester Metropolitan University have developed a laboratory method that transforms sheep bone into a realistic model of osteoporosis, providing a potential alternative for early-stage testing of orthopedic implants and treatments. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-09-bone-animal-osteoporosis.html Tue, 08 Sep 2026 10:00:01 EDT news708078961 Researchers at Weill Cornell Medicine and Hospital for Special Surgery have discovered the unspecialized stem cells that give rise to the body's tendons and ligaments, the tissues connecting muscles and bones. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-09-newly-stem-cell-reveals-potential.html Mon, 07 Sep 2026 11:00:03 EDT news707744588 In a study published in Scientific Reports, an international, multidisciplinary research team that included Binghamton University researchers identified a set of blood proteins that may explain why the corticosteroid prednisone, although beneficial in treating Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD), can interfere with childhood growth and bone health. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-09-blood-biomarkers-reveal-common-muscular.html Fri, 04 Sep 2026 13:00:03 EDT news707745541 A phase 3 trial is showing "a potentially giant step forward" in treating children with achondroplasia, UCLA Health's Dr. Isidro B. Salusky wrote in an editorial published in the New England Journal of Medicine (NEJM). https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-09-treatment-approach-children-short-limbed.html Fri, 04 Sep 2026 07:20:03 EDT news707718662 Bone and joint infections cause significant health problems for patients and lead to millions of dollars in added health costs per year, but clinicians lack reliable tools to predict which patients will develop severe or persistent disease. And when standard-of-care antibiotics fall short, there are no immunotherapies available to help patients mount a stronger defense against infections. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-09-cell-protein-treatment-joint-complication.html Thu, 03 Sep 2026 11:20:03 EDT news707652362 Peptides are short chunks of protein with specialized functions in the body. Insulin and GLP-1, both of which have U.S. Food and Drug Administration approval, are two of the most well-known. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-09-qa-peptide-supplements-outpaces-medicine.html Thu, 03 Sep 2026 08:20:06 EDT news707639102 Level of education is the socioeconomic factor most strongly associated with survival rates after acute hip surgery. This is shown in a Linköping University study of 58,000 people. The results can be used to better identify patients who may need more support after surgery. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-09-strongly-linked-survival-hip-fracture.html Wed, 02 Sep 2026 11:00:12 EDT news707562541 Major new research from the University of Sydney has found that physiotherapist-led care significantly reduced emergency department waiting and treatment times for people with back pain, fractures, dislocations and other musculoskeletal conditions. The randomized controlled trial recruited 1,491 patients who presented to five emergency departments in NSW between November 2023 and March 2025. The findings are published in The Lancet. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-08-physiotherapist-emergency-departments-musculoskeletal-patients.html Fri, 28 Aug 2026 16:40:01 EDT news707126311 Total joint replacement is a proven treatment to relieve chronic knee pain, but concerns have been raised that particles from the device may migrate to the brain and cause memory problems. New research from Rush University shows this may not be a concern. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-08-total-joint-particles-brain.html Fri, 28 Aug 2026 10:40:06 EDT news707129161 A machine-learning tool built from Swedish national health registry data can predict hip fracture risk with high accuracy without an in-person assessment and identifies far more at-risk individuals than current clinical screening practices, according to a study published Aug. 27 in the journal PLOS Medicine by Kristian Axelsson and Mattias Lorentzon of the University of Gothenburg, Sweden, and colleagues. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-08-registry-based-hip-fracture-current.html Thu, 27 Aug 2026 14:00:12 EDT news706887254 Every year, hundreds of thousands of older Americans recover from hip and knee replacement surgery at home. For many, that recovery depends on timely access to physical or occupational therapy after leaving the hospital. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-08-gaps-home-rehab-joint.html Thu, 27 Aug 2026 07:40:03 EDT news707028841 Researchers have developed a "scaffold" that mimics natural tissue and could lead to more durable rotator cuff repairs, including for large injuries and cases involving bone and tissue degeneration that are often the most difficult to fix. Devised by a team at the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania, the new system was detailed in Science Advances. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-08-mimicking-natural-rotator-cuff.html Wed, 26 Aug 2026 10:40:01 EDT news706956421 Driven by the potential advantages of preserving bone stock and easier implant removal during revision surgery, the use of cementless short-stem implants in shoulder arthroplasty has increased in recent years. Despite this, joint replacement procedures outside the shoulder have reported postoperative bone loss in studies using dual-energy x-ray absorptiometry (DEXA) to measure bone density. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-08-shoulder-bone-mineral-density.html Mon, 24 Aug 2026 08:40:03 EDT news706776672 Scoliosis is a condition characterized by an abnormal sideways curvature of the spine and most commonly develops during adolescence. Doctors typically assess its severity by measuring spinal curvature on X-ray images. This measurement plays an important role in diagnosis, follow-up evaluation and treatment planning. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-08-ai-doctors-scoliosis.html Fri, 21 Aug 2026 15:40:01 EDT news706537622 Robotic assistance is increasingly used in knee replacement surgery worldwide: in 6% of procedures in the UK, compared with 16% in the U.S. and 42% in Australia. The aim is to help surgeons place knee replacements more precisely and tailor surgery to a patient's anatomy. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-08-robotic-knee-patient-outcomes-surgeon.html Fri, 21 Aug 2026 13:00:05 EDT news706533961 Biomedical scientists have developed a new nanoscale imaging technique that allows researchers to directly see how bone-forming cells use nutrients and build bone inside the body. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-08-imaging-technique-reveals-bone-microscopic.html Fri, 21 Aug 2026 11:40:02 EDT news706525861 In a systematic review, researchers evaluated previously published studies of Lenke type 5 adolescent idiopathic scoliosis to examine the use of PCOs in combination with PSF and compare radiographic outcomes with PSF performed without PCOs. The research is published in the journal Spine Deformity. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-08-personalized-surgical-treatment-adolescent-idiopathic.html Wed, 19 Aug 2026 10:40:01 EDT news706353661 When it comes to daily aches and pains, it's not uncommon for knees to be a main source. And while there can be many different long-term causes of such issues, osteoarthritis is often a reason why. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-08-osteoarthritis.html Tue, 18 Aug 2026 23:00:02 EDT news706258113 Osteoarthritis is a leading cause of chronic pain and disability worldwide. Current intra-articular standards of care, such as analgesics, corticosteroids and viscosupplements, provide only transient symptomatic relief and do not reliably modify disease progression. A major translational barrier is the rapid clearance of small-molecule drugs and biologics from synovial fluid, as well as the difficulty of delivering hydrophobic compounds at therapeutic concentrations without systemic exposure. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-08-hydrogel-prolongs-joint-retention-osteoarthritis.html Thu, 13 Aug 2026 07:30:01 EDT news705814313 A new study published in Diabetes Care finds that bone loss alone does not explain the increased fracture risk observed in some older adults with type 2 diabetes. The article, "Type 2 Diabetes and Longitudinal Changes in Cortical and Trabecular Bone Density, Microarchitecture, and Strength: The Framingham Study," sought to better understand why people with type 2 diabetes are at greater risk of fractures. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-08-bone-deterioration-higher-fracture-older.html Tue, 11 Aug 2026 13:00:01 EDT news705664321 A randomized controlled trial compared first metatarsophalangeal joint (MTPJ) arthrodesis, a joint fusion surgery for painful hallux rigidus (arthritis of the big toe joint), with watchful waiting in reducing walking pain. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-08-joint-fusion-surgery-pain-patients.html Mon, 10 Aug 2026 17:00:09 EDT news705566958 Knee osteoarthritis (KOA) affects more than 1 in 10 people older than 40, impairing patients' mobility and quality of life. With limited treatment options, stem cell injections have been promoted as a treatment, but clinical trial evidence of efficacy is often lacking, despite claims from clinics selling untested options. Even where well-designed clinical trials have been performed, there is no clear consensus about the benefits of stem cell injections for KOA, likely because of the many variables at play. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-08-variable-outcomes-stem-cell-knee.html Fri, 07 Aug 2026 08:40:01 EDT news705301681 Osteoarthritis (OA) is a chronic, painful joint disease and a leading cause of disability. Despite its prevalence, therapies for osteoarthritis are limited and focus on symptom management. Now, researchers are combining genetic studies of Utah families with AI-based molecular biology tools to find new medications that may ultimately help treat OA at its source. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-08-osteoarthritis-medicines-ai-genetics.html Thu, 06 Aug 2026 15:00:05 EDT news705159841 Neck and back pain could be caused by changes in gene activity that trigger the breakdown of the spine's natural shock absorbers, new research suggests. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-08-insights-pain.html Thu, 06 Aug 2026 09:00:04 EDT news705217322 In January this year, a team of Johns Hopkins Medicine investigators, led by pathologist Aaron W. James, MD, Ph.D., discovered that sensory neurons in skeletal tissue are constantly sensing their environment and quickly respond to injuries. In new research published in Science Translational Medicine, they describe how this response profoundly affects growth plates, the soft cartilage at the end of bones in children that support normal growth and development, and how they respond to targeted treatment in mice. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-08-sensory-nerves-growth-plate-injuries.html Wed, 05 Aug 2026 14:00:20 EDT news705068461 Researchers at the Department of Women's and Children's Health have used a novel technique to map which genes are active in different regions of the skeleton's growth plates. The findings offer new clues about how the body controls bone elongation—and why certain genetic mutations lead to skeletal disorders. The study is published in the journal Bone Research. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-08-spatial-growth-plate-tissue-bones.html Wed, 05 Aug 2026 13:00:06 EDT news705148621