The Effect of Post-Surgery Exercise in Patients With Total Knee Replacement Surgery

May 6, 2025 updated by: Alev Keskin
postoperative pain; It is acute pain that begins with surgical trauma and decreases during tissue healing. Although it is predictable and treatable, it still seems to be an important problem today. Many researchers in the literature have reported that approximately 50-70% of patients receive inadequate pain treatment after surgery, and many patients complain of moderate or severe pain. Poor control of postoperative pain may cause deep venous thrombosis and delayed wound healing, increased hospital stay, and delayed return to daily life activities. This may negatively affect the quality of life and recovery of patients Therefore, there is a need for methods that increase pain control, such as non-pharmacological methods, to accelerate postoperative recovery. Nurses in postoperative pain management; they help control pain with non-pharmacological methods such as breathing exercises, positioning, relaxation techniques, massage, listening to music, hot application, cold application, and distraction.

Study Overview

Status

Completed

Conditions

Detailed Description

This study was designed as a quasi-experimental study to examine the effect of breathing exercise on pain in patients undergoing Total Knee Replacement surgery. This exercise is utterly simple, takes almost no time, requires no equipment and can be done anywhere. Although you can do the exercise in any position, sit with your back straight while learning the exercise. Place the tip of your tongue against the ridge of tissue just behind your upper front teeth, and keep it there through the entire exercise. You will be exhaling through your mouth around your tongue; try pursing your lips slightly if this seems awkward.

  • Exhale completely through your mouth, making a whoosh sound.
  • Close your mouth and inhale quietly through your nose to a mental count of four.
  • Hold your breath for a count of seven.
  • Exhale completely through your mouth, making a whoosh sound to a count of eight.
  • This is one breath. Now inhale again and repeat the cycle three more times for a total of four breaths.

This study was designed as a quasi-experimental study to examine the effect of breathing exercise on pain in patients undergoing Total Knee Replacement surgery. Note that you always inhale quietly through your nose and exhale audibly through your mouth. The tip of your tongue stays in position the whole time. Exhalation takes twice as long as inhalation. The absolute time you spend on each phase is not important; the ratio of 4:7:8 is important. If you have trouble holding your breath, speed the exercise up but keep to the ratio of 4:7:8 for the three phases. With practice you can slow it all down and get used to inhaling and exhaling more and more deeply.

This exercise is a natural tranquilizer for the nervous system. Unlike tranquilizing drugs, which are often effective when you first take them but then lose their power over time, this exercise is subtle when you first try it but gains in power with repetition and practice. Do it at least twice a day. You cannot do it too frequently. Do not do more than four breaths at one time for the first month of practice. Later, if you wish, you can extend it to eight breaths. If you feel a little lightheaded when you first breathe this way, do not be concerned; it will pass.

Study Type

Interventional

Enrollment (Actual)

55

Phase

  • Not Applicable

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

    • Sarıçam
      • Adana, Sarıçam, Turkey
        • Çukurova Üniversitesi
    • University
      • Adana, University, Turkey
        • Çukurova Üniversitesi

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

18 years to 90 years (Adult, Older Adult)

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

Yes

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

  • be over the age of 18,

    • Being able to speak Turkish,
    • Does not have any barriers in communication, understanding and comprehension,
    • Not having visual and hearing impairment,
    • Not taking pain medication 60 minutes before or 30 minutes after the intervention,
    • Volunteering to participate in the research,

Exclusion Criteria:

-

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: Supportive Care
  • Allocation: N/A
  • Interventional Model: Single Group Assignment
  • Masking: None (Open Label)

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm
Intervention / Treatment
Experimental: The Effect of 4-7-8 Breathing Technique on Pain
Impact of the 4-7-8 Breathing Technique on Postoperative Pain Following Total Knee Arthroplasty
Breath exercises

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
NRS Scale
Time Frame: Bir dakika
NRS is a unidimensional scale that uses 11 numbers (from 0 to 10) to measure pain intensity.32 The patient is asked to choose the number that best reflects their pain intensity (0=no pain at all, 10= the worst pain).
Bir dakika

Collaborators and Investigators

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

Sponsor

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 (Actual)

April 20, 2022

Primary Completion (Actual)

May 2, 2023

Study Completion (Actual)

September 30, 2023

Study Registration Dates

First Submitted

April 10, 2022

First Submitted That Met QC Criteria

April 10, 2022

First Posted (Actual)

April 15, 2022

Study Record Updates

Last Update Posted (Actual)

May 8, 2025

Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria

May 6, 2025

Last Verified

March 1, 2022

More Information

Terms related to this study

Drug and device information, study documents

Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated drug product

No

Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated device product

No

product manufactured in and exported from the U.S.

No

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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