Total Knee Replacement and Rehabilitation

Book excerpt: While several treatment options exist for knee arthritis patients, end-stage treatment is total knee arthroplasty (TKA or total knee replacement). For patients to achieve maximum benefits of this surgical correction, they need understand and manage many important details both before and in the first year after surgery. This comprehensive guide explains everything from the preoperative decision-making process to the surgery itself, how to prepare your home for post-surgery rehabilitation, and a week by week description of how to rehabilitate yourself following your TKA. The road to recovery is laid out clearly in this book in such detail that there are no surprises. It concentrates extensively on postoperative rehabilitation, which is vital to the success of a TKA, and as important as the surgery itself. This book contains 145 exercises, 190 illustrations and photos, and questions and answers at the end of each chapter. It empowers patients with the knowledge they need to take charge of their own rehabilitation program.