Effect of a 6-week rehabilitation program on gait parameters after total knee arthroplasty

ABSTRACT

To investigate early changes in gait parameters following total knee arthroplasty [TKA]. Fifteen patients scheduled to undergo unilateral TKA at King Faisal Specialist Hospital and Research Centre [KFSHRC], Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, between March 2009 and February 2010, were included in the study. This study was a prospective pretest-posttest experimental design; all patients underwent unilateral TKA, and were subjected to a 6-week standard postoperative rehabilitation program. Pain intensity and gait variables were evaluated before surgery and 6-weeks postoperatively using the Visual Analogue Scale and simple footprint method. Statistical analysis showed improvement in pain intensity and reduction in gait velocity, cadence, and stride length following the 6-week postoperative exercise intervention compared with preoperatively. A 6-week postoperative exercise program is not a long enough time-period to restore walking abilities to their pre-surgery values in patients undergoing TKA. A longer period of rehabilitation is needed to improve the quality of the patient's gait