Exercise- and education-based prehabilitation before total knee arthroplasty: a pilot study

OBJECTIVE: To determine the feasibility and estimates of effects of a supervised exercise- and education-based prehabilitation programme aiming to improve knee functioning compared with usual care in patients awaiting total knee arthroplasty. DESIGN: A randomized controlled pilot study. SUBJECTS: Patients receiving primary, unilateral total knee arthroplasty. METHODS: Patients randomized to the intervention group participated in a personalized 4-8-week prehabilitation programme before surgery. Feasibility of the intervention and self-reported knee functioning, pain, physical performance and hospital stay were assessed at baseline, immediately preoperatively, 6 and 12 weeks after surgery. RESULTS: Twenty patients (mean age 72.7±5.95 years) were enrolled in this study. The personalized prehabilitation programme was found to be feasible and safe, with an exercise adherence of 90%. Significant medium interaction effects between groups and over time favouring prehabilitation were reported for the sport subscale of the Knee Osteoarthritis Outcome Score (F(3/54)?=?2.895, p?=?0.043, ?²?=?0.139) and Tegner Activity Scale (F(2.2/39.1)?=?3.20, p?=?0.048, ?²?=?0.151). CONCLUSION: The absence of adverse events and high adherence to the programme, coupled with beneficial changes shown in the intervention group, support the conduct of a full-scale trial investigating the effectiveness of prehabilitation.