The surgical therapy of orthopaedic diseases and injuries is subject to permanent change. The development of novel techniques and the establishment of patient-friendly, often minimally invasive procedures has altered many treatment algorithms. Significant clinical success is being achieved in increasingly targeted, individualised therapy approaches. Moreover, post-operative treatment and rehabilitation are similarly undergoing a great change. Patient-related outcome measures are increasingly affecting post-operative rehabilitation courses, providing cause for an evidence-based rehabilitation protocol. Due to the growing awareness of evidence-based post-operative treatments, long off-loading phases and functional impairments are increasingly giving way to early functional therapy, reducing treatment times and minimizing socio-economic costs.