Acupuncture & Electrotherapy May Help Patients after Total Knee Arthroplasty

The studies of continuous passive motion (CPM) included standard CPM, early flexion CPM and CPM plus active exercise. Studies of preoperative exercise included six to eight weeks of exercise training programs. The authors note they found evidence of low certainty or very low certainty that the use of CPM and preoperative exercise were associated with no pain improvement and no reduction in opioid consumption. In other words, they did not find evidence to support the use of either treatment modalities for patients with TKA.

Lara C. Pullen, PhD, is a medical writer based in the Chicago area.

Reference

1. Tedesco D, Gori D, Desai KR, et al. Drug-free interventions to reduce pain or opioid consumption after total knee arthroplasty: A systematic review and meta-analysis. JAMA Surg. 2017 Aug 16:e172872. doi: 10.1001/jamasurg.2017.2872. [Epub ahead of print]