Total knee arthroplasty is a procedure commonly used to treat end-stage osteoarthritis of the knee. However, the success rate of the therapy is questionable as a large number of patients are at risk of poor outcomes. This study aims to investigate whether targeting rehabilitation with a progressive course of outpatient physiotherapy can offer positive outcomes in patients who had undergone total knee arthroplasty.
This parallel-group randomized trial included a total of 334 participants with knee osteoarthritis who were at risk of poor outcomes after total knee arthroplasty. The participants were randomly assigned in a 1:1 ration to receive therapist-led outpatient rehabilitation (n=163) or home exercise based protocol (n=171). The primary outcome of the study was the Oxford knee score at 52 weeks.
The difference of the Oxford Knee score between the two groups was 1.91, with the results being more favorable for outpatient rehabilitation. The difference, however, was not clinically meaningful. No additional patient-reported outcome measures of pain and function were reported at week 14, 26, and 52 after surgery.
The research concluded that in patients with osteoarthritis who were at risk of poor outcomes after total knee arthroplasty, the difference in Oxford knee score between outpatient rehabilitation and home exercise was not significant.
Ref: https://www.bmj.com/content/371/bmj.m3576
