Background Patients often ask their doctors when they can safely return to driving after orthopaedic injuries and procedures, but the data regarding this topic are diverse and sometimes conflicting. Some studies provide observer-reported outcome measures, such as brake response time or simulators, to estimate when patients can safely resume driving after surgery, and patient survey data describing when patients report a return to driving, but they do not all agree. We performed a systematic review and quality appraisal for available data regarding when patients are safe to resume driving after common orthopaedic surgeries and injuries affecting the ability to drive.
Systematic reviews and meta-analyses in orthopaedics sports medicine literature relied on evidence levels 4 and 5 in 53% of studies over the 5-year study period. Overall, PRISMA and AMSTAR scores are high and may be better than those in other disciplines. Readers need to be conscious of potential shortcomings when reading systematic reviews and using them in practice.
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