Balance Among Patients after Six Months of Total Knee Arthroplasty

Total knee arthroplasty (TKA) is an orthopedic surgical technique in which the knee joint surfaces, the femoral condyles and tibial plateau, are substituted with prosthetic components.TKA is found effective for improving perambulating purposes, but some other impairment such as proprioception, muscle strength, and balance may continue postoperatively. Balance is defined as an individual’s ability to maintain a desired position within their base of support. The aim of the study was to asses balance among patients who underwent total knee arthroplasty post six months. A cross sectional descriptive study was conducted for a period of 6 months from August 2018 till January 2019 at Ghurki Trust and Teaching hospital and Horizon Hospital Lahore, in which 26 subjects (7 Males and 19 Females) were included according to inclusion criteria. Permission from the Ethical Committee of the Lahore College of Physical Therapy was obtained. The sampling technique used was convenient sampling. Balance of each patient was assessed with Berg Balance Scale. The Berg Balance Scale grades execution on 14 different tasks, utilizing a scale of five points ranging from 0 to 4; the isolated scores are summed, for a total score of 56 where greater scores show enhanced stability of task execution. The results of the study showed that out of the total (n = 26) patients, 19 patients had low risk of fall, 6 patients had moderate risk of fall, while only one patient had high risk of fall. The study concluded that patients, who underwent total knee arthroplasty, had low risk of fall when balance was assessed with Berg Balance Scale after six months of Total knee Arthroplasty procedure.