by Russ Simmerman | Jan 24, 2017 | PT News
This was published Monday, January 23, 20017 by PT in Motion News In brief: Retrospective cohort study focused on 109 TKA patients One group (87) received outpatient physical therapy beginning within a week of discharge; a second group (22) received 2-3 weeks of home physical therapy before entering an outpatient physical therapy program While 6MWT and KOOS outcomes were the same for both groups at completion of outpatient physical therapy, the home health group took average of 20 days longer to reach benchmarks Authors believe results point to need for patient education and choice; potential cost savings of immediate outpatient physical therapy A new study finds that when it comes to results, patients who undergo total knee arthroplasty (TKA) and engage in home physical therapy before participating in outpatient physical therapy ultimately wind up doing just about as well as patients who proceed directly to physical therapy sessions. The time it takes them to reach those outcomes, however, is another story. Writing in a recent issue of Orthopedic Nursing (abstract only available for free), researchers report on the results from an analysis of 109 TKA patients who participated in a hospital’s joint replacement program, and who had the option of entering into outpatient physical therapy beginning within a week after surgery (87 individuals, called the OP group) or receiving home health care for 2 to 3 weeks before moving on to outpatient physical therapy (22 individuals, labeled the HH group). Researchers reviewed medical records from 2005 to 2010 to find out if the 2 paths resulted in different outcomes and what those outcomes were after completion of outpatient physical therapy....
