Treatment of Severe Flexion Deficits Following Total Knee Arthroplasty

PURPOSE: To determine whether passive knee flexion and knee-specific outcome scores differ in TKA patients experiencing arthrofibrosis treated with differing intensity of stretch exercises. DESIGN: Randomized Controlled Trial SAMPLE: Twenty patients who volunteered and met inclusion criteria were randomly assigned to an intervention group. TREATMENT: Group 1 received high-intensity stretch home mechanical therapy (n = 11) and Group 2 received low-intensity stretch home mechanical therapy (n = 9). FINDINGS: The HIS group demonstrated significantly greater gains in both passive knee flexion and outcome scores. The change in passive knee flexion significantly correlated with the change in outcome scores, and a significantly greater number of patients in the HIS group (91%) were able to achieve a functional range of motion >110° than those in the LIS group (22%, p < .001). CONCLUSION: Treatment of postoperative arthrofibrosis with an HIS home mechanical therapy device was more effective and resulted in significantly improved outcomes when compared with LIS devices.