Relaxation Treatment in Total Knee Arthroplasty

Relaxation Group recieve progressive muscle relaxation exercises additional to the standard exercises. The relaxation exercises are applied two times a day till the discharge day starting on the postoperative day one. Progressive muscle relaxation included the relaxing of different muscle groups along with deep breathing. The maximal contraction period consist of the contraction of muscle groups around ankle, calf, knee, hip, lumbar, thoracic and cervical regions, shoulder, arm, forearm for 5 s and continued with a relaxation period for 30 s while focusing on breathing. These two periods ware repeated for each muscle groups and lasted approximately 30 min

The physiotherapy protocol is applied under the supervision of the same physiotherapist within a progressive manner immediately after surgery. Continued passive range of motion is applied twice a day starting with 45º of knee flexion range of motion and increased gradually as tolerated. All patients performed same isometric, isotonic and active exercises. Patients were instructed to bear weight as tolerated on the postoperative day 1