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Review
. 2021 Mar 3;103(5):446-455.
doi: 10.2106/JBJS.20.00983.

Activity Recommendations After Total Hip and Total Knee Arthroplasty

Luc M Fortier  1 , Zachary A Rockov  2 , Antonia F Chen  3 , Sean S Rajaee  2
Affiliations
Review

Activity Recommendations After Total Hip and Total Knee Arthroplasty

Luc M Fortier et al. J Bone Joint Surg Am. .

Abstract

»: A formal unsupervised activity program should be recommended to all patients recovering from total knee arthroplasty (TKA) and total hip arthroplasty (THA).

»: In a subset of all patients undergoing TKA or THA, studies have found that an unsupervised activity program may be as efficacious as supervised physical therapy (PT) after surgery. Certain patients with inadequate independent function may continue to benefit from supervised PT.

»: For TKA, supervised telerehabilitation has also been proven to be an effective modality, with studies suggesting equivalent efficacy compared with supervised in-person PT.

»: Following TKA, there is no benefit to the use of continuous passive motion or cryotherapy devices, but there are promising benefits from the use of pedaling exercises, weight training, and balance and/or sensorimotor training as adjuncts to a multidisciplinary program after TKA.

»: No standardized postoperative limitations exist following TKA, and the return to preoperative activities should be dictated by an individual's competency and should consist of methods to minimize high impact stress on the joint.

»: Despite traditional postoperative protocols recommending range-of-motion restrictions after THA, it is reasonable to recommend that hip precautions may not be needed routinely following elective primary THA.

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Conflict of interest statement

Disclosure: The authors indicated that no external funding was received for any aspect of this work. On the Disclosure of Potential Conflicts of Interest forms, which are provided with the online version of the article, one or more of the authors checked “yes” to indicate that the author had a relevant financial relationship in the biomedical arena outside the submitted work and “yes” to indicate that the author had other relationships or activities that could be perceived to influence, or have the potential to influence, what was written in this work (http://links.lww.com/JBJS/G239).

References

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    1. American Association of Hip and Knee Surgeons. Exercises you can do at home after knee replacement surgery. 2018. Accessed 2020 Oct 30. https://hipknee.aahks.org/physical-therapy-after-knee-replacement-video/

MeSH terms