Prehabilitation May Not Improve Knee Replacement Results

[Amina]

Exercises and education prescribed as prehabilitation before total knee replacements (TKR) may not significantly improve the outcomes of the surgery, researchers say. This randomized clinical trial found no evidence that multidisciplinary prehabilitation before TKR for osteoarthritis improves short-term functional independence or reduces midterm activity limitations after surgery,

[jack]

@amina The finding contradicts previous research and the approach followed by many surgeons who assign weeks of regimens to improve their patients' health before operating on them. But the limitations of the study make its significance hard to interpret, said Bert Mandelbaum, MD, in an interview with Medscape Medical News. Mandelbaum is professor of orthopedics at Cedars-Sinai Kerlan-Jobe Institute in Los Angeles, California, and team physician for the Los Angeles Galaxy professional soccer club, and was not involved in the study.