[The use of rehabilitation programs for patients in the early recovery period after total knee arthroplasty].

Rehabilitation of patients after total knee arthroplasty is still a challenge for modern medicine. At the same time, there are few publications in the medical literature on rehabilitation programs for patients after total knee arthroplasty. Available scientific studies have proven the effectiveness of low-intensity laser therapy and a pulsed low-frequency electrostatic field (PLFEF) in tissue repair by modulating the inflammatory process and relieving pain. OBJECTIVE:Scientific substantiation of the feasibility of the combined use of low-intensity laser radiation (LILR) and PLFEF in patients after total knee arthroplasty. MATERIAL AND METHODS:90 patients aged from 55 to 80 years after total knee arthroplasty were examined. All patients were randomly assigned to three groups. Patients of the 1st group underwent therapeutic exercises with an instructor and low-intensity laser exposure; in the 2nd group, therapeutic exercises with an instructor, low-intensity laser therapy, and PLFEF were performed without a time interval; patients of the 3rd group received only therapeutic exercises with an instructor. RESULTS:After the course of treatment, a positive dynamics of the state of microcirculation was noted in all patients, which correlated with a significant regression of the pain syndrome and an improvement in the performance of the 10-meter walk test with external support on crutches. However, a more significant decrease in pain intensity after the first procedures and at the end of the course of treatment was found in the group of patients who received complex therapy, which included LILR, PLFEF, and therapeutic exercises. CONCLUSION:Thus, based on the data of this study, it is possible to recommend the combined use of LILR and PLFEF for the treatment of patients after total knee arthroplasty.