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Reversing Muscle and Mobility Deficits 1 to 4 Years after TKA: A Pilot Study

  • Symposium: Advanced Techniques for Rehabilitation after Total Hip and Knee Arthroplasty
  • Published:
Clinical Orthopaedics and Related Research®

Abstract

Muscle and mobility deficits can persist for years after a total knee arthroplasty (TKA). The purposes of this study were (1) to determine if 12 weeks of rehabilitation with resistance exercise induces increases in muscle size, strength, and mobility in individuals 1 to 4 years after a TKA; and (2) to compare the muscle and mobility outcomes of a traditional resistance exercise rehabilitation program with a rehabilitation program focused on eccentric resistance exercise. Seventeen individuals (13 women, four men; mean age, 68 years; age range, 55–80 years) with either a unilateral or bilateral TKA (total of 24 knees) were included in this matched and randomized repeated-measures rehabilitation pilot trial. Increases in quadriceps muscle volume and knee extension strength followed 12 weeks of eccentric exercise. Improvements were also noted in four mobility tests. Similar improvements were noted in the traditional group in two mobility tests. An increase in muscle size and strength and an improvement in levels of mobility can occur after 12 weeks of resistance exercise in older individuals 1 to 4 years after TKA. When the exercise mode focuses on eccentric resistance, the muscle growth response is greater as is the improvement in important mobility tasks.

Level of Evidence: Level II, therapeutic study. See Guidelines for Authors for a complete description of levels of evidence.

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Acknowledgments

We thank our colleagues, staff, and graduate students in both the Skeletal Muscle Exercise Research Facility in the Department of Physical Therapy and those in the Department of Orthopaedics who supported the infrastructure and processes involved in this project. We are especially grateful to the individual participants who committed substantial time and effort while engaging in this project.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Physical Therapy, University of Utah, 520 Wakara Way, Salt Lake City, UT, 84108, USA

    Paul C. LaStayo PhD, PT, Whitney Meier DPT, OCS, Robin L. Marcus PhD, PT, OCS & Lee Dibble PhD, PT, ATC

  2. Department of Exercise and Sport Sciences, University of Utah, 520 Wakara Way, Salt Lake City, UT, 84108, USA

    Paul C. LaStayo PhD, PT

  3. Department of Orthopedics, University of Utah, 520 Wakara Way, Salt Lake City, UT, 84108, USA

    Paul C. LaStayo PhD, PT, Whitney Meier DPT, OCS, Robin L. Marcus PhD, PT, OCS, Lee Dibble PhD, PT, ATC & Christopher Peters MD

  4. Department of Physical Therapy, Eastern Washington University, Cheney, WA, USA

    Ryan Mizner PhD, MPT

Authors
  1. Paul C. LaStayo PhD, PT
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  2. Whitney Meier DPT, OCS
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  3. Robin L. Marcus PhD, PT, OCS
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  4. Ryan Mizner PhD, MPT
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  5. Lee Dibble PhD, PT, ATC
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  6. Christopher Peters MD
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Paul C. LaStayo PhD, PT.

Additional information

One or more of the authors (PCL) has received funding from a Funding Incentive Seed Grant Program at the University of Utah. PCL has served as an ad hoc, nonpaid consultant for the company (Eccentron, LLC) developing a commercial eccentric stepper device used as a resistance exercise device in this study but he has no financial interest in the company nor has he or any of the other authors received any financial incentives from the company.

Each author certifies that his or her institution has approved the human protocol for this investigation, that all investigations were conducted in conformity with ethical principles of research, and that informed consent for participation in the study was obtained.

This work was performed at the University of Utah, Salt Lake City, UT.

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LaStayo, P.C., Meier, W., Marcus, R.L. et al. Reversing Muscle and Mobility Deficits 1 to 4 Years after TKA: A Pilot Study. Clin Orthop Relat Res 467, 1493–1500 (2009). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11999-009-0801-2

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11999-009-0801-2

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