Patient dissatisfaction with rehabilitation following primary total knee arthroplasty

Most patients who receive a total knee arthroplasty (TKA) undergo rehabilitation in the postoperative period. However, these therapies are often not under the direct supervision of the treating physicians, have variable protocols, and have unclear long-term efficacies. The purposes of this study were to assess patient satisfaction with their rehabilitation following TKA and to evaluate whether various factors were different between satisfied and unsatisfied patients. A total of 100 consecutive patients who underwent 107 primary TKA were prospectively surveyed to evaluate their rehabilitation experiences. There were 28 men and 72 women who had a mean age of 61 years (range, 37 to 91 years) at the time of surgery. Patients answered questions regarding the number and duration of therapies, amount of hands-on time with the therapists, number of different therapists, amount of co-pay, and their overall level of satisfaction with their rehabilitation experience. Over one-third of the patients reported not being satisfied with their rehabilitation experiences. The patients who were dissatisfied reported a shorter mean duration of each therapy session spent directly with the therapist, a higher mean number of therapists seen over the duration of their treatment, and an increased number of co-participants during their therapy sessions. The authors believe that to minimize patient dissatisfaction with rehabilitation, surgeons should refer patients to therapists who are willing to spend adequate hands-on time during one-on-one or smaller group therapy sessions with their patients.