The Effects of Continued Rehabilitation After Primary Knee Replacement

INTRODUCTION: Tasks of rehabilitation after arthroplasty are to provide painless joint movements, to improve the range of motion, to establish a scheme of walking, to achieve independence in activities of daily living. THE AIM: of the study is to determine the effects of continued rehabilitation on the range of the knee motion and reducing the swelling after total knee replacement. METHODS: The study was conducted from 2011 to 2013 and included 140 patients of both sexes, aged 45 to 85 with implanted endoprosthesis based on primary osteoarthritis. They were divided into two groups, experimental, which after early rehabilitation continued ongoing rehabilitation for a period of three weeks, while the control group after completion of early rehabilitation began rehabilitation two months from the surgery for a period of three weeks. The range of motion in the knee joint and the extent of the knee joint in the medium of patella were measured in both groups during the admission and discharge from rehabilitation. In the experimental group, control measurements were carried out three months after surgery. RESULTS: In both groups, there was a significant reduction of the swelling at the discharge in relation to the admission while in the experimental group there was no change on the control of the joint swelling after three months in relation to the release from rehabilitation. In the experimental group, the range of motion of flexion and extension was improved at the discharge in relation to the admission as well as the flexion during the control while the range of motion of extension wasn’t significantly changing during the control examination. In the control group, the extension and flexion were significantly improved at the discharge compared to the admission. Comparing both groups, the results showed that there was a significant improvement in flexion movements in the experimental group during rehabilitation in comparison to the control group, while the range of motion of the extension was not significantly different in these two groups. Comparing the range of motion of the experimental group on the control examination and the control group at discharge, it is demonstrated significant improvement in flexion and extension in the experimental group. CONCLUSION: Results of monitoring the reduction of the swelling and the return of the range of motion confirm the advantage of continuous rehabilitation.