The Null Hypothesis is that there is no significant change in range of motion (ROM), pain, or function for a group of patients following total knee arthroplasty (TKA) who use the LRU pillow as compared to a control group of total knee arthroplasty patients who do not use the pillow.
1. Study design will be a Pretest-Posttest Control Group Design . Enrollment would be random assignment of 20 patients to a control group vs 20 patients to a treatment group for patients with the diagnosis of osteoarthritis (OA) of the knee admitted for primary total knee arthroplasty. For specifics of patient assignment, please see below under Recruitment Procedures. 2. Unpaired t-Tests will be used to determine differences between mean scores for the dependent variables (pain, range of motion, functional mobility). Analysis of Covariance will be run to quantify the effect of the co-variates of age, gender, body mass index (BMI), and contralateral previous TKA. Confidence Intervals will be set at 95%.
Study Type
INTERVENTIONAL
Allocation
RANDOMIZED
Purpose
TREATMENT
Masking
NONE
Enrollment
40
Foam wedge with a trough for positioning of the lower leg in an elevated position.
Standard bed pillows placed under the lower leg to facilitate elevation
Newton Wellesley Hospital
Newton, Massachusetts, United States
Range of Motion
Knee ROM measured both actively and passively with a standard long arm goniometer twice daily for both groups.
Time frame: 3 Days
Pain
Pain will be assessed using a visual analogue scale twice daily both at rest and with activity (exercise).
Time frame: 3 Days
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