Authors (including presenting author) :
Lau MY(1), Mak CH(1), Lo KM(2), Cheung CT(1), Lau WK(1)
Affiliation :
(1) Physiotherapy Department, Alice Ho Miu Ling Nethersole Hospital (2) Department of Orthopaedics and Traumatology, Alice Ho Miu Ling Nethersole Hospital
Introduction :
Unicompartmental knee arthroplasty (UKA) has become an alternative to total knee arthroplasty (TKA) for patients with end-stage knee osteoarthritis limiting to a single compartment and fail to respond to conservative management. There is increasing popularity of adding hydrotherapy in addition to conventional post-operative physiotherapy rehabilitation. However, there are no studies investigating the effects of hydrotherapy on patients after UKA.
Objectives :
1.To investigate the effects of hydrotherapy on the physical functions on patients after primary unilateral UKA with the model of Oxford® Partial Knee(Zimmer Biomet, UK).
Methodology :
A retrospective cohort study of 68 patients who had primary unilateral Oxford-Model UKA were recruited, and divided into the hydrotherapy group which received hydrotherapy and conventional physiotherapy, and the control group which received conventional physiotherapy only. Knee Society Function Score was measured before operation, six months and one year after operation. Self-reported walking tolerance, Timed Up and Go Test (TUGT) and 30-second Chair Stand Test (30CST) were measured before and after completion of rehabilitation.
Result & Outcome :
The hydrotherapy group had statistically significantly higher Knee Society Function Score than the control group six months (p=.038) and one year (p=.030) after operation. It also had statistically significantly higher self-reported walking tolerance (p=.011) after rehabilitation. There were no significant differences in TUGT (p=.199) and 30CST (p=.464) between two groups after rehabilitation.
