I Approach Postsurgical Patients Just Like Other Patients

Yes, it matters if you had surgery last week. It may or may not matter if you had surgery years ago. It also matters if you fell last week, if you had the flu, if you have vertigo, if you have an inflammatory disorder, and so on. Your entire history can matter - and your surgical history is simply one piece of that history I consider when I determine the most appropriate questions to ask you as well as the appropriate ways in which to move you. Given how people often have lots of things going on health-wise, it takes expertise to know what is relevant and not get bogged down with extraneous minutiae (which can eat up your precious time with patients quite quickly).
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The biggest overarching error I see with clinicians treating patients specifically for postsurgical rehab is that they assume the surgery indeed addressed the true problem. Resultingly, they fail to both ask questions and move patients in ways that are diagnostic in nature. I make my own diagnosis - which may be a straightforward diagnosis of “postsurgical” - and treat accordingly. There are a lot of postsurgical patients out there whose surgeries did not resolve their underlying issues, which makes this way of thinking imperative if you want a successful outcome. --Laura