title: A 12-week medical exercise therapy program leads to significant improvement in knee function after degenerative meniscectomy: a randomized controlled trial with one year follow-up.
abstract: There is no consensus in the postoperative rehabilitation regimen for patients who have undergone surgery for medial meniscus damage. The aim of this study was to examine whether it is necessary to undergo postoperative physiotherapy treatment these patients. A prospective randomized controlled clinical trial was performed. 42 participants (26 males, 16 women) were randomly assigned into an exercise group (EG) (n = 22) or a control group (CG) (n = 20). Prognostic variables were similar between the groups at baseline. The EG achieved significantly better outcome effects than the CG at pain (VAS reduced 1.9 in TG and 0.6 in CG, p < 0.01) and function (KOOS decreased 18.0 in TG and only 6.5 in CG, p < 0.01) during the 12 week intervention period. The results after a 12-month follow-up indicated the same results as at posttest 3 months postoperatively. In patients with surgery for degenerative meniscus damage, postoperative medical exercise therapy - as a model of physiotherapy - is an efficient treatment alternative compared to no systematic rehabilitation.
authors.affiliation: PT Specialist in Sports Physical Therapy, Sør-Trøndelag University College, Faculty of Health Education and Social Work, Department of Physical Therapy, Ranheimsv. 10, N-7004 Trondheim, Norway. Electronic address: havard.osteras@hist.no.
authors.forename: Håvard
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Østerås
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D005081:Exercise Therapy / Q000379:methods*; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006801:Humans; D007718:Knee Injuries / Q000534:rehabilitation* / Q000601:surgery*; D007719:Knee Joint / Q000601:surgery; D008297:Male; D008592:Menisci, Tibial / Q000601:surgery; D008875:Middle Aged; D010146:Pain; D011446:Prospective Studies; D016059:Range of Motion, Articular
keywords: Knee; Meniscus; Physical therapy; Rehabilitation