A retrospective study on the effect of exercise programs frequency on knee joint range of motion and walking ability in patients after total knee replacement at Lamphun Hospital.

Abstract

     This study purposed to investigate the effects exercise programs frequency on knee joint range of motion and walking ability in patients after total knee replacement surgery. The study was conducted from January 2566 to December 2566 at Lamphun Hospital. Data were collected from physical therapy records stored in the hospital's computer system (Phramongkut Software, PMK). The post-operative exercise program consisted of five exercises performed by physical therapists. The variables studied include knee flexion angle, knee extension angle, knee joint movement ability (knee flexion angle ≥ 90 degrees and knee extension angle = 0 degrees), and walking ability according to physician-prescribed weight-bearing patterns (full weight-bearing, partial weight-bearing, and as tolerated). Data were analyzed using the Wilcoxon signed-rank test to compare the differences in knee joint movement angles before and after treatment within each group (p < 0.05). The Kruskal-Wallis test with post-hoc Dunn test was used to compare differences among the groups (p < 0.05). Chi-Square statistics were used to analyze the knee joint movement abilities of each group (p < 0.05). And statistical analysis is used to analyze the walking ability of patients using a walker according to the weight-bearing pattern prescribed by the doctor.
     The study divided the sample into three groups: Group 1 (44 participants) received exercise once, Group 2 (111 participants) received exercise twice, and Group 3 (32 participants) received exercise three times. It was found that all groups showed a statistically significant increase in knee flexion angle and knee extension angle after physical therapy treatment (p < 0.05). Patients in Groups 2 and 3 had greater changes in knee flexion angle compared to those in Group 1, with statistical significance (p < 0.05). However, no significant differences were observed in the changes in knee flexion angle between patients in Groups 2 and 3 (p > 0.05). There were no significant differences in the changes in knee extension angle among the groups (p > 0.05). All groups had no significant differences in knee joint movement ability, defined as knee flexion angle ≥ 90 degrees and knee extension angle = 0 degrees (p > 0.05). And all three groups of patients can walk well using a walker according to the weight-bearing pattern prescribed by the doctor, 100 percent.