Post-operative Rehabilitation
Post-operative hospitalization varies from one day to seven days on average, depending on the health status of the patient and the amount of support available outside the hospital setting. Protected weight bearing on crutches or a walker is required, until the quadriceps muscle has healed and recovered its strength. Continuous Passive Motion is commonly used, but a Cochrane review concluded that the evidence was weak and the magnitude of its effect was small. Patients typically undergo several weeks of physical therapy and occupational therapy to restore motion, strength, and function. Often range of motion (to the limits of the prosthesis) is recovered over the first two weeks (the earlier the better). At six weeks, patients have usually progressed to full weight bearing with a cane. Complete recovery from the operation involving return to full normal function may take three months, and some patients notice a gradual improvement lasting many months longer than that.
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