Traditional Chinese Acupressure Massage of the Quadriceps Femoris Can Relieve Flexion Pain after Undergoing Total Knee Arthroplasty

OBJECTIVE: To reduce the pain of quadriceps during knee flexion after total knee arthroplasty and increase range motion of knee flexion. DESIGN: Three-month prospective before/after quality improvement project. Setting. Department of Bone and Joint Surgery. Participants. A total of 80 patients who met the surgical indications were admitted to the outpatient department for surgery. They were randomly grouped by computer in advance, and the patients were divided into two groups according to the time of admission, each with 40 cases. Intervention. The intervention group performed routine rehabilitation exercises and received quadriceps acupoint massages for 20 minutes twice a day for two consecutive weeks. The control group performed routine rehabilitation exercises, such as gentle quadriceps massage for 20 minutes twice a day for two consecutive weeks. Main Outcome Measures. PPT (pressure pain threshold) of quadriceps femoris/VAS (visual analog scale) of knee flexion and motion of knee flexion. RESULTS: The VAS score, range of motion, and tenderness threshold during flexion were significantly better in the intervention group than in the control group at 1, 2, and 4 weeks after surgery. But the VAS score, range of motion, and tenderness threshold did not significantly differ between groups at 12 weeks after surgery. CONCLUSION: Acupoint massage of the quadriceps femoris can relieve early flexion pain in patients after total knee arthroplasty. The trial was registered at clinical trials.gov.