Mid Term Outcome of Home-Based Exercises vs. Sophisticated Physiotherapy Protocol After Total Knee Arthroplasty

Abstract

Background: As the population is getting older, the recent increasing rate of total knee replacement has raised some doubts over its potential outcomes. Physical therapy or home-based exercise has been regarded as the prerequisites for excellent outcomes after primary total knee arthroplasty. However, comparison of physiotherapy exercise with home exercise program after primary TKA has not been addressed.
Methods: The present study compared the impacts of physiotherapy protocol with those of home-base exercise after TKA. In this regard, a post-operative clinical evaluation was conducted on 2,250-member groups of patients. The mean ages of physiotherapy and home-based exercises groups were 65 ± 1 and 61 ± 6, respectively.
Results: The clinical and statistical analyses indicated the effective improvements in functional results and quality of life parameters. All OKS, WOMAC, and KOOS approximately assessed the same improvement in both group. The 6-minutes walk distance improved about 12% in both groups. Baseline measurements through 4 years of follow-up revealed considerable and equal improvements in both groups.
Conclusions: It was concluded that there were no significant differences between the 2 groups. After primary total knee arthroplasty, the improvement of patients following a home exercise program was similar to improvement of the patient completing a regular physical therapy. However, further researches are required.