Mobility in Post-Surgical Knee Arthroplasty with Compression Bandage VS Drainage

Abstract

Introduction: Post-surgical management of total knee arthroplasty (TKA) includes compressive bandaging or continuous suction drainage. The arches of mobility are evaluated through some validated scales such as the Knee Society Score (KSS) questionnaire, the recovery of these is still uncertain between one management and another for not finding statistically significant differences or presenting a small sample in studies already carried out. Objective: To compare the mobility arches of patients with compressive bandage vs. continuous suction drainage undergoing TKA. Methods: Prospective, longitudinal, comparative, analytical study; patients >55 years old undergoing TKA were included. They were grouped according to compressive bandage or continuous suction drainage and the arches of mobility before and after surgery were compared. Results: 68 patients were registered, 41 (60.2 %) women and 27 (39.8 %) men with a mean age of 66.5 ± 8.3 years. Compressive bandage was applied to 34 patients and continuous suction drainage to the rest. Post-surgery the final score of the questionnaire was 82.76± 8.30 for the compressive bandage group vs. continuous suction drainage 72± 12.80 (p= <0.001), which translates better evolution in bandage group. Conclusions: The data of the present study suggest that compressive bandaging as a post TKA may result in better patient functionality according to mobility arcs being necessary other studies for validation.