Total knee arthroplasty (TKA) is a treatment option for individuals with symptomatic osteoarthritis who have failed conservative therapy. In this manuscript the authors describe the pathophysiology of post-operative edema and explore the patient dependent factors potentially contributing to lymphatic dysfunction and thus directly influencing the TKA postoperative course. A proposed multimodal perioperative protocol is presented that focuses on identifying limb edema/lymphedema preoperatively, intraoperative technique changes that may decrease swelling post-TKA.
To summarize, the author, Andrew Wickline, MD suggests:
- Normalization of BMI between 20-30; even a small drop in BMI has been correlated with lower post-op complications
- Anti-inflammatory diet
- Cessation of tobacco
- Limit alcohol
- Low sodium diet
- Increase physical activity
- Additional nutritional supplements
Published on August 11, 2023