Rotationplasty content on TikTok drew 35.6 million views and was largely positive and postoperative, according to a cross-sectional analysis published Oct. 25 in Cureus.
Researchers led by Rohan Vemu, MD, screened TikTok posts tagged #Rotationplasty made before January 2024. After removing duplicates and excluded content, 68 posts from 65 creators remained. Those posts collected 2.6 million likes.
Patients created 44.1% of the posts, and physicians created 25%. Of the 68 posts, 72.1% were positive, 25% were neutral and two, or 2.9%, were negative.
Most posts were postoperative (60.3%), and 30.9% showed before-and-after scenes. Only two were preoperative. Mobility appeared in 77.9% of posts, range of motion of the new knee joint in 73.5% and activities of daily living in 39.7%. Pain came up in two posts.
Female creators accounted for 63.2% of posts, even though osteosarcoma occurs more often in males. Of the 33 posts that named a diagnosis, 76.5% specified osteosarcoma.
The authors cautioned that the positive tilt does not reflect the full range of rotationplasty outcomes, because patients with good experiences may be more willing to post. They recommended that orthopedic surgeons address expectations patients form on social media during perioperative counseling.
The authors said future studies should evaluate the accuracy and educational quality of rotationplasty content and how it shapes patient decision-making.
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