The Influence of Total Knee Arthroplasty on Postural Control

Introduction: The aim of this study is to assess the changesinduced by the unilateral total knee arthroplasty procedurein human postural control.Materials and methods: The measurements were performedusing the ”AMTI AccuGait” force plate. Subjects completedthree consecutive double-limb standing balance trials. Themediolateral and anteroposterior displacements were derivedfrom the force and moment profiles measured by the forceplatform. The path length per unit time (average velocity) andElipse 95 (collect 95% of data) were also assessed.Results: Mediolateral displacement increase of 3.4% wasobserved postoperatively. Postoperative anterolateral displacementincrease of 23.2% was recorded. The average velocity alsorose by 16.8% postoperatively. The Elipse 95 grew by 33.7%postoperatively.Discussion: Excepting mediolateral displacement, all the otherstudied parameters showed significantly (p 0.05) higher valuesin the postoperative period compared with the preoperativeone, in both open and closed eye trials.Conclusions: The study results demonstrate that balancecontrol is weaker shortly after unilateral knee arthroplasty,than in the preoperative period. Although proprioception isaltered in osteoarthritic knees, the TKA procedure mayadditionally affect proprioceptors. The TKA causes additionalinstability in the days after the procedure, therefore the risk offalling injuries is higher in this period.

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