A total knee replacement is a proven cost-effective treatment for end-stage osteoarthritis, with a positive effect on pain and function. However, only 80% of the patients are satisfied after surgery. It is known that high preoperative expectations and residual postoperative pain are important determinants of satisfaction, but also malalignment, poor function and disturbed kinematics can be a cause. The purpose of this study was to investigate the correlation between the preoperative function and the postoperative patient reported outcomes PROMs) as well as the influence of the postoperative functional rehabilitation on the PROMs. 57 patients (mean 62,9j ± 10,6j), who suffer from knee osteoarthritis and who were scheduled for a total knee replacement at our centre, participated in this study. The range of motion of the knee, the muscle strength of the M. Quadriceps and the M. Hamstrings and the functional parameters (‘stair climbing test’ (SCT), ‘Sit to stand’ (STS) and ‘6 minutes walking test’ (6MWT)) were measured the night before surgery, ±6 months and ±1 year after surgery. This happened respectively with the use of a goniometer, HHD 2, stopwatch and the ‘DynaPort Hybrid’. Correlations between pre- and postoperative values were investigated. Secondly, a prediction was made about the influence of the preoperative parameters on on the subjective questionnaires (KOOS, OXFORD and KSS) as well as a linear and logistic regression.Introduction
Methods
Femoral nerve block (FNB) following total knee arthroplasty (TKA) has had mixed results with some studies reporting improvement in pain and reduced narcotic exposure while others have not shown substantial differences. The effect of a FNB on rehabilitation indices (quadriceps strength, knee flexion) is also unclear. The study purpose was to compare the effect of FNB+ a multimodal analgesic protocol (MMA) to MMA only on the 1) development of a complete quadriceps motor block and 2) knee flexion during the first two postoperative days and 3) knee flexion out to 12 weeks after primary TKA. Secondarily, we compared hospital length of stay (LOS), postoperative pain, analgesic use and the incidence of nausea/vomiting. This was a controlled clinical trial undertaken at two tertiary hospitals that do high annual TJA volumes (>200 cases). Both hospitals followed the same regional clinical pathway for preoperative, perioperative and postoperative care. The pathway started mobilization on the day of surgery with a goal for discharge home on the third postoperative day. At one site, FNB was used for the first two postoperative days in addition to MMA as needed (FNB group [n=19]) while the other site used standardized MMA (MMA group [n=20]) only. The presence of a complete quadriceps block, knee flexion, pain, analgesic use, incidence of nausea and vomiting were recorded daily in hospital. Hospital LOS was also recorded and knee flexion and pain were assessed at two, six and 12 weeks post discharge.Purpose
Method