The assessment of post-operative rehabilitation methods in patients after total knee replacement in terms of the lower limb functions with its proprioception

Abstract

In advanced stages of osteoarthritis of the knee joints arthoplasty is the only effective treatment for joint replacement. However, in the postoperative phase, due to its wide area, it influences patient’s health and their lower limb. It requires skilfull rehabilitation. The objective was to determine the relationship between the function of the lower limb proprioception in patients after implantation of knee replacement for osteoarthritis and type of rehabilitation treatment, used in this patients. The material included 45 patients who underwent knee replacement in Department of Orthopedics and Traumatology Collegium Medicum in Bydgoszcz (from October 2005 year - to March 2006 year) and then patients were randomly assigned to one of three groups of 15 people with a different way of rehabilitation: I - traditional, II - aggressive and III - proprioceptive. Improvement of lower limb function was achieved after 3 months in group 2 and 3, in group 1 only after 6 months. Improvement of proprioception already noted in the early postoperative period in group 3, and in the other groups - outright deterioration. In subsequent periods the improvement was significant only in group 3, and only after 6 months in group 2. Studies have allowed drawing following conclusions:

1. Proprioceptive rehabilitation has advantages over the traditional model and aggressive rehabilitation in terms of improving lower limb function and deep sensory.

2. The worst results of rehabilitation treatment in the assessment of lower limb function are given by a traditional model of rehabilitation.