Outcomes for Manual Lymphatic Drainage

Additional Manual Lymph Drainage to Standard Postoperative Rehabilitation Protocol in Primary Total Knee Arthroplasty Patients Improves Postoperative Kinesiophobia, Pain and Quality of Life: Preliminary Clinical Results

In this context, the purpose of our study is to investigate the effect of MLD(manual lymphatic drainage) technique applied in addition to the standard postoperative rehabilitation protocol on pain, kinesophobia and quality of life in early periods in patients undergoing primary TKA(total knee arthroplasty) surgery. Our hypothesis is that the addition of the MLD technique to the standard postoperative rehabilitation protocol will improve the early clinical outcomes of patients undergoing primary TKA. In the future perspective, we anticipate that the data obtained as a result of our study will make a significant contribution to the relevant literature on the early and mid-term ameliorative effects of MLD on postoperative pain, kinesiophobia and quality of life, which will be possibly applied in addition to standard postoperative rehabilitation protocols in patients undergoing primary TKA.

Inclusion Criteria:

• Patients between the ages of 40-85
• were diagnosed with stage IV gonarthrosis
• planned primary total knee arthroplasty (TKA)
• were evaluated before the operation
• whose informed consents

Exclusion Criteria:

• Patients with postoperative pulmonary thromboembolism or treatment-related complications in the past,
• patients with osteoarthritis secondary bone or joint infections,
• patients with morbid obesity,
• patients with presence of hematological disease and malignancy,
• major cardiac pathology,
• venous insufficiency,
• patients taking high-dose anticoagulants
• patients with communication problems