Article Summary: A Randomized, Controlled Trial of Total Knee Replacement
In this study, the authors conduct an assessment of two approaches for addressing moderate-to-severe knee osteoarthritis. The said approaches are; total knee replacement followed by a nonsurgical program, and the adoption of nonsurgical interventions. It is, however, important to note that as the authors point out, both approaches lead to improvements that are deemed clinically relevant. More specifically, the authors of this particular study present their findings on the efficacy rate of the fusion of both surgical treatment and nonsurgical treatment, with the nonsurgical treatment program coming after the surgical intervention. The nonsurgical treatment program was implemented for a total of 12 weeks and it included pain medications, utilization of insoles, advice on diet, education, and exercise. The patient I took care of during my clinical rotation has knee pain and is scheduled for total knee replacement. On the strength of the findings of this particular study, I would recommend that she proceeds with this surgical intervention.
From the onset, the authors of this particular article point out that “total knee replacement is considered to be an effective treatment for end-knee osteoarthritis.” It is perhaps for this reason that...
References
Skou, S.T., Roos, E.M., Laursen, M.B., Rathleff, M.S., Nielsen, L.A., Simonsen, O. & Rasmussen, S. (2015). A Randomized, Controlled Trial of Total Knee Replacement. The New England Journal of Medicine, 373(17), 1597 – 1606.
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