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. 2020 Mar 25;23(1):39-46.
doi: 10.1298/ptr.E9992. eCollection 2020.

Effect of manual lymph drainage for up to 10 days after total knee arthroplasty: Arandomized controlled trial

Tatsu Fujiura  1 , Hiroshi Nagasawa  2 , Hidetaka Wakabayashi  1
Affiliations

Effect of manual lymph drainage for up to 10 days after total knee arthroplasty: Arandomized controlled trial

Tatsu Fujiura et al. Phys Ther Res. .

Abstract

Objective: To assess the effect of manual lymph drainage (MLD) on pain in Japanese patients up to 10 days after a total knee arthroplasty (TKA).

Methods: This study was a randomized controlled trial performed at a University Medical Center. Patients who underwent unilateral TKA and received once daily MLD for 20 minutes prior to standard physical therapy up to 10 days after TKA were investigated. Pain at rest, knee extension muscle contraction, and maximum load were assessed using the visual analog scale (mm) before surgery, after drain removal, and after the fifth MLD. As secondary outcomes, the circumference, range of motion, muscle strength, walking speed, and walking rate were evaluated.

Result: Forty-one patients aged 45-85 participated in this study, 21 of whom were assigned to the intervention (MLD group) and 20 who were not (control group). Ten days after TKA, no significant difference was evident between the MLD and control groups for resting pain [4.5 mm (1.6-10.8) vs 7.0 mm (1.8-25.5), respectively, p=0.17], pain during knee extension muscle contraction [12.3 mm (4.5-24.8) vs 20.8 mm (6.4-31.8), p=0.41], and pain at maximum load [13.0 mm (8.3-39.8) vs 16.0 mm (4.6-32.5), p=0.73]. There were no significant differences between groups in terms of secondary outcomes.

Conclusion: This study shows that MLD up to 10 days after TKA does not affect pain.

Keywords: manual lymph drainage (MLD); pain; total knee arthroplasty (TKA).

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors have no conflicts of interest to disclose.

Figures

Figure 1.
Figure 1.
Flow diagram of participants recruitment process.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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