ROA post knee replacement

[wiscan]

3 weeks after surgery, my knee is still quite swollen which is limiting my ROA and also prevents me from progressing with the exercises.  I am doing 3 sessions of exercise each day followed by an hour in the CPM and 1/2 - 1 hour of icing with elevation.  I had home health PT the first week followed by 4 outpatient PT sessions.

Is there a chart that shows what kind of progress should be occuring each week in ROA?

[wiscan]

Discovered why my ROA might not have been progressing as rapidly as I had hoped.  It turned out that the CPM machine had not been measured for me.  When the PT gave me the correct measurements, we added 4" to the "shaft" which completely changed the angle.  Even though the company manual (found online) states that the measurement must be made, it never was.  We don't know how many problems that might have caused but the pain was nearly unbearable!

Secondly, the PA gave me steroids to shrink the swelling -- in 4 days, my knee is over an inch smaller.  The PA said that my skinny legs (don't know if that's a compliment or not) might have led them to believe that there was less swelling than there was.  Apparently, on heavier people, the swelling is part of the leg size and they never thought to compare my two legs to see if there was a discrepancy or not.  My husband actually caught that.

Anyway, the CPM now gets to 0-100 after 4 days of steroid and the right length of shaft.  Am finally moving on.

Thanks for your advice.

[Michael L Gross, MD]

Every patient progresses at their own pace, therefore no such chart exists, and if it did, it wouldn't be very helpful.  Sometimes patients overdo it, and their knee becomes more inflammed and swollen, further slowing the progress.  My best advice is to work slowly and consistently, and remain patient.  However, if you remain concerned, you should speak with your surgeon.