BACKGROUND: Total knee arthroplasty (TKA) is an orthopedic surgery of the osteoarthritic knee joint. Evidence-based Physiotherapy protocol plays a major role in the rehabilitation of the general and athletic population after replacement surgery to perform daily life and sports activities and return to activities without pain, discomfort, and limited knee function.
OBJECTIVE: To find out a variation in physical therapists’ routine rehabilitation after total knee arthroplasty in tertiary hospitals of Peshawar.
METHODOLOGY: A cross-sectional study with a structured questionnaire was conducted among physical therapists working in tertiary hospitals in Peshawar, Pakistan. The data were analyzed by using SPSS version 25 and presented in the form of frequencies, and percentages.
RESULTS: A total of 97 physical therapists were targeted from tertiary care hospitals in Peshawar. Out of 97, high age respondents were 4 (4.1%), ranging from 40-45 years of age and the low age group was 77 (79.4%), ranging from 25-29 years of age. Male respondents were 58 (59.8%) while female was 39 (40.2%). A total of 83 (85.6%) physical therapists had rehabilitation experience of 1-5 years while 11-17 years of practice experience were 3 (3.1%). To reduce swelling, 93% of physical therapists recommend RICE protocols. 53% recommend cooling (for pain relief), 70% recommend CPM (for mobility) and 71% recommend open-chain exercise for muscle strength. The 83 (84.7%) physical therapists recommended sports to the patient after knee arthroplasty. The current study found a non-significant association in a variation of protocols between Government and Private Hospitals.
CONCLUSION: This study observed that the Majority of Total knee arthroplasty protocols are not being applied as updated research-based guidelines. However, recommendations of sports for an individual athlete after arthroplasty were prescribed similarly and up to date. No variation existed in total knee arthroplasty protocols among government and private Hospitals.
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