Electrical Stimulation After Total Knee Arthroplasty

October 11, 2005 updated by: Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD)

NMES for Older Individuals After Total Knee Arthroplasty

Total knee arthroplasty (TKA) is performed more than 300,000 times a year in the United States, most often for osteoarthritis (OA). While pain is predictably reduced, function does not typically ever reach that of age-matched, uninjured subjects. Quadriceps weakness has been implicated in the development and progression of knee OA and is a significant problem after TKA. Voluntary exercise has been ineffective at restoring quadriceps strength after TKA. The aims of this study are: 1) to assess the effectiveness of high-level neuromuscular electrical stimulation as an adjunct to ongoing intensive, early rehabilitation in restoring quadriceps strength and improving the functional outcome after primary TKA, and 2) to identify the physiological and morphological bases for improvements in quadriceps strength and functional outcome.

Study Overview

Status

Unknown

Conditions

Intervention / Treatment

Detailed Description

Reduced muscle strength from illness or injuries often leads to loss of function and independence in the elderly. The recovery of muscle strength and function in disabled elderly individuals is a major challenge in rehabilitation. The etiology of the muscle weakness with injury or age is not fully elucidated. Training programs designed to maximize strength gains in young individuals may not be optimal in the elderly because the cause of the weakness and the morphology of the muscle may be different for young vs. old people. The overall goal of this work is to determine if physiologically and morphologically based rehabilitation programs are more effective than traditional rehabilitation to counter changes in muscle strength and function in older individuals. Neuromuscular electrical stimulation (NMES) may be used to improve strength and function following injury or surgery. This study provides motivation for exploring the use of NMES with the elderly. We posit that using NMES to augment a traditional rehabilitation program for elderly patients with osteoarthritis following total knee arthroplasties (TKA) will result in greater strength and functional gains than using only traditional rehabilitation. Elderly patients with osteoarthritis who undergo TKAs serve as ideal subjects for testing the effectiveness of rehabilitation programs become those patients almost always exhibit marked quadriceps weakness that is resistant to traditional physical rehabilitation. More than 300,000 TKAs are performed each year in the United States to treat osteoarthritis of the knee in older individuals. So, the successful rehabilitation of elder patients following TKA is an important and challenging problem. The specific aims of this proposal are: 1) To assess the effectiveness of high-level neuromuscular electrical stimulation is an adjunct to ongoing intensive, early rehabilitation in restoring quadriceps strength and improving the functional outcome after primary TKA, and 2) To identify the physiological and morphological bases for improvements in quadriceps strength and functional outcome

A total of 200 subjects will participate in this study. Functional and strength testing provides information for the patients' clinical treatment and allow us to monitor their progress. This information will also help in the design of a training program for individuals following a total knee replacement that optimizes the return to full level of function after surgery. MRI screening will provide information regarding the size of the thigh muscle at various periods throughout rehabilitation. It will enable us to assess the impact of post-operative treatment on increasing the size of the thigh muscle. Patients will be asked to participate in functional and strength testing sessions, lasting about 1½ hours, at the following times: 0-2 weeks before surgery, 3-4 weeks, 6-7 weeks, 10-12 weeks, 6 months, 1 year, and 2 years after surgery. MRI testing will last about 30 minutes per session and will be performed 0-2 weeks before surgery, and 3-4 weeks, 10-12 weeks, and 1 year after surgery.

Functional testing will include 5 parts: a timed walking test, a timed stair climbing test, a timed balance test, a timed step test, and a six-minute walk test. A strength test will be used to assess the strength of the thigh muscles.

The second part of this study involves treatment. Patients participate in 6 weeks of physical therapy, 3 times per week. They are randomly assigned to one of 2 groups. One group will participate in a traditional rehabilitation program. The other group will receive electrical stimulation for strengthening of the thigh muscle in addition to the traditional rehabilitation program.

Study Type

Interventional

Enrollment

200

Phase

  • Phase 1

Contacts and Locations

This section provides the contact details for those conducting the study, and information on where this study is being conducted.

Study Locations

  • United States
    • Delaware
      • Newark, Delaware, United States, 19716
        • Recruiting
        • University of Delaware
        • Contact:
          • Lynn Snyder-Mackler, PT, ScD
          • Phone Number: 302-831-3613
          • Email: smack@udel.edu

Participation Criteria

Researchers look for people who fit a certain description, called eligibility criteria. Some examples of these criteria are a person's general health condition or prior treatments.

Eligibility Criteria

Ages Eligible for Study

45 years to 85 years (Adult, Older Adult)

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

No

Genders Eligible for Study

All

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

  • TKA for unilateral tricompartmental knee OA

Exclusion Criteria:

  • Insulin dependent diabetes
  • neurological conditions
  • other lower extremity orthopedic problems that affect function
  • BMI>40

Study Plan

This section provides details of the study plan, including how the study is designed and what the study is measuring.

How is the study designed?

Design Details

  • Primary Purpose: Treatment
  • Allocation: Randomized
  • Interventional Model: Parallel Assignment
  • Masking: Single

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Quadriceps Strength
Quadriceps Activation
Functional Tests

Secondary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Self reports of function

Collaborators and Investigators

This is where you will find people and organizations involved with this study.

Sponsor

Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD)

Collaborators

National Center for Medical Rehabilitation Research (NCMRR)

Investigators

  • Principal Investigator: Lynn Snyder-Mackler, PT, ScD, University of Delaware

Publications and helpful links

The person responsible for entering information about the study voluntarily provides these publications. These may be about anything related to the study.

General Publications

Study record dates

These dates track the progress of study record and summary results submissions to ClinicalTrials.gov. Study records and reported results are reviewed by the National Library of Medicine (NLM) to make sure they meet specific quality control standards before being posted on the public website.

Study Major Dates

Study Start

March 1, 2002

Study Registration Dates

First Submitted

September 21, 2005

First Submitted That Met QC Criteria

September 21, 2005

First Posted (Estimate)

September 23, 2005

Study Record Updates

Last Update Posted (Estimate)

October 12, 2005

Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria

October 11, 2005

Last Verified

October 1, 2005

More Information

Terms related to this study

Keywords

Additional Relevant MeSH Terms

Other Study ID Numbers

  • 5R01HD041055 (U.S. NIH Grant/Contract)

This information was retrieved directly from the website clinicaltrials.gov without any changes. If you have any requests to change, remove or update your study details, please contact register@clinicaltrials.gov. As soon as a change is implemented on clinicaltrials.gov, this will be updated automatically on our website as well.

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