Physical activity not risky after knee replacement

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Physical activity not risky after knee replacement

By Merritt McKinney

NEW YORK, Jan 21 (Reuters Health) - People who have a knee replacement

do not need to become couch potatoes after surgery, the results of a new

study suggest.

" Some patients might be apprehensive about resuming physical activity

after surgery, " the study's lead author, Dr. Dina L. , told Reuters

Health in an interview. " Without proper assurances from healthcare

professionals, they may limit their physical activity, " added , who

is a physical therapist and researcher at the University of Pittsburgh

in Pennsylvania.

But in her study, people who reported higher levels of physical activity

were not more likely to need later surgery to revise, or repair, their

knee replacement.

Although noted that the study is preliminary, she said, " Physical

activity was not a risk factor for needing revision surgery in this

group of individuals. "

People who are having knee replacement for the first time " should be

encouraged to remain active, " she said.

The study included 52 people with osteoarthritis who had undergone knee

replacement surgery in at least one knee for the first time. Half of the

participants had also undergone surgery to revise the knee replacement.

The other half was a " control " group that had been matched with the

first group according to several characteristics, including age, sex,

date of knee surgery and number of knees replaced.

and her colleagues interviewed the participants about their

physical activity since having a knee replaced. Physical activity was

defined not only as conventional exercise, but included a wide range of

other activities such as sports, leisure activities, work-related

activities and daily tasks such as housecleaning and grocery shopping.

More active participants did not have a higher risk of needing

reparative surgery than less-active ones, and her colleagues

reported in San Francisco, California, last fall at the annual

scientific meeting of the American College of Rheumatology and

Association of Rheumatology Health Professionals.

In fact, the risk of repeat surgery was about one-third lower in the

more active participants, but this difference was not statistically

significant.

In the interview noted that the rate of revision after knee

replacement is low, but as the population ages and more and more people

have a knee replaced, the number of revision procedures is likely to

rise as well.

and her colleagues now hope to study the activity levels of two

groups of people with osteoarthritis--those who are having knee

replacement and those who are not. One of the goals of this research

will be to see whether people with osteoarthritis are getting enough

activity to maintain their health, said.