Use of Continuous Passive Motion in the Post-Operative Treatment of Intra-articular Knee Fractures

Use of Continuous Passive Motion in the Post-Operative Treatment of Intra-articular Knee Fractures

Decreased range of motion is common after fractures around the knee and can impact a patient's ability to perform activities of daily living such as rising from a seated position or getting in and out of a bathtub. A continuous passive motion (CPM) machine is a machine that continuously moves a joint (such as the knee) without the patient having to use the muscles in his/her leg. A goal of this therapy is to maintain as much motion as possible following this injury. This study is a randomized, prospective study to evaluate the effectiveness of CPM in maintaining knee range of motion following open reduction and internal fixation (ORIF) of fractures around the knee

Inclusion Criteria:

• If the patient has an intra-articular distal femur or proximal tibia fracture
• Independent ambulatory prior to injury
• No previous knee injury limiting motion

Exclusion Criteria:

• If the patients range of motion was decreased prior to injury (ex. Osteoarthritis, previous knee fracture or injury)
• Any contraindication to CPM (concomitant hip or ankle fracture)
• Open physis of tibia or distal femur
• Pathological Fracture
• Compartment Syndrome
• Neurovascular injury
• Fracture due to gunshot wound
• Greater than 21 days from fracture to definitive open reduction and internal fixation
• Fractures treated with definitive external fixation
• Open fractures
• Extensor mechanism injuries
• Likely problems in the judgment of the investigator with maintaining follow-up