Outcomes with Additional Manual Lymphatic Drainage to Rehabilitation Protocol in Primary Total Knee Arthroplasty Patients: Preliminary Clinical Results

Abstract

Objective: This study was carried out to evaluate the clinical outcomes such as pain, kinesiophobia and quality of life of additional manual lymph drainage (MLD) technique in theafter total knee arthroplasty (TKA) surgery.Methods: Twenty-one TKA patients were randomly allocated to a control group (n:10) and MLD group (n:11). Both groups received routine postoperative rehabilitation. MLD group also received MLD in the first three days after surgery. Clinical assessment was undertaken on postoperative 3rd day and at 6th week. This included knee pain using Visual Analog Scale (VAS), kinesiophobia using Tampa Kinesiophobia Scale (TKS) and quality of life using Nottingham Health Profile (NHP).Results: VAS and TKS values of the MLD group on the 3rd day and at the 6th week were found to be significantly lower than the control group (p<0.05). The 6th week NHP values of the MLD group were found to be significantly lower than the control group (p<0.05). For all three values, within-group, and between-group according to processes the effect size of the MLD group is greater than the control group.Conclusion: The results of the present study demonstrated that addition of MLD application to the standard rehabilitation protocol of TKA positively affected the healing process and it also improved the quality of life by reducing postoperative kinesiophobia and pain level. Adding this special technique to the rehabilitation program in TKA surgeries will provide patient satisfaction and contribute positively to the improvement in clinical outcomes.