Knee Loading With Blood Flow Restriction Can Enhance Recovery After Total Knee Arthroplasty

Total knee arthroplasty (TKA) is one of the most performed operations in the world, especially in the elderly. Aging has a significant effect on joint cartilage, muscle strength, and muscle mass. Following a TKA, despite the significant reduction of symptoms and the improvement in mobility, muscle strength and muscle mass recovery remains a significant challenge. Restrictions that arise from the surgical procedure include joint loading, functional activities, and range of motion, along with limitations related to the age of the individual and their previous loading history, these are the significant restrictions, at least in the early stages of rehabilitation. Evidence indicates that blood flow restriction (BFR) training has significant potential to enhance recovery via implementation of low-load or low-intensity exercise. While respecting the indications and contraindications related to BFR application, the optimization of metabolic stress seems to offer a bridging therapy to heavy load while reducing pain and inflammation. Thus, the combination of BFR and low loads may improve muscular recovery (strength and mass), and aerobic training protocols appear to show significant enhancement of multiple cardiopulmonary parameters. Mounting evidence, direct and indirect, indicate that BFR training may have the potential to benefit the pre-operative and post-operative TKA rehabilitation phases and enhance functional recovery and physical abilities in the elderly.