QUALITY OF LIFE FOLLOWING PHYSIOTHERAPY MANAGEMENT IN PATIENTS WITH TOTAL KNEE REPLACEMENT

Background: Knee Osteoarthritis (OA) is a major cause of chronic pain & a leading source of functional disability in many individuals. Total knee Arthroplasty/Replacement (TKR) is an effective procedure for the treatment of OA. Reduction in pain, improvement in the physical function is the main expected outcomes after TKR. However, for some patients, the outcomes are not satisfactory. The functional benefits of this surgical procedure are not as convincing as large functional deficits persist in many patients. Methods: 11 patients ( four males and seven females) undergoing TKR were randomly selected from the orthopedic wards of a tertiary public sector hospital. Post written informed consent, patients were evaluated pre-operatively using EQ-5D and Knee injury and Osteoarthritis (KOOS) outcome measures. The TKR was followed by vigorous physiotherapy treatment from post-operation day 1, followed up to 6 weeks, and then patients were re-evaluated. Results: The patients who participated had a mean age of 64.36. Analysis with a paired t-test showed statistically significant improvement (p-value < 0.05) for all the domains of KOOS and also EQ-5D. The patients responded well to physiotherapy with statistically significant improvement (p-value < 0.05) in their quality of life. Conclusion: There is a significant improvement in the quality of life of patients undergoing total knee replacement surgery post physiotherapy. More intensive rehabilitation should be promoted in the sub-acute recovery period after TKR to optimize functional outcomes.