Postoperative Pain Self-Management Behavior in Patients Who Underwent Total Knee or Hip Arthroplasty

A home-based tele-rehabilitation exercise system for patients after knee replacement surgery

BACKGROUND

Knee arthritis is a destructive disorder that affects the knee joints and causes pain and reduced mobility. Drug treatments, weight loss, and exercise control the symptoms of the disease, but these methods only delay the disease process and eventually, knee joint replacement surgery will be needed. After surgery, with the help of a proper physiotherapy program, full recovery takes an average of 6-12 months. However, currently, there is no similar tool to facilitate this process in Iran.

OBJECTIVE

The purpose of this research is to design and develop the prototype of a rehabilitation system for patients after knee replacement surgery, which provides patients with information and appropriate physiotherapy programs.

METHODS

This study was development-applied and was done in three stages. In the first stage, the needs and content of education and therapeutic exercises were prepared in the form of a checklist, and then the necessity of each item was checked in the evaluation sessions. In the second stage, the prototype of the system was developed using Adobe XD software and based on the requirements approved from the previous stage. In the third stage, the usability of the program was analyzed from the point of view of experts using the exploratory evaluation method with Nielsen's 13 principles of usability.

RESULTS

At first, the system requirements were extracted and prepared in two checklists of content (51 exercises) and capabilities (60 items). Then after a survey of experts based on the Delphi technique, content information (43 exercises) and functional and non-functional requirements (53 items) were obtained. A survey of experts helped to finalize the information elements, categorize them, and prepare the final version of the checklists. Based on this, the system requirements were classified into 11 categories, and the training content was classified into 3 training periods. Finally, the design and development of the system was done. This system has admin, physician, and patient user interfaces. The result of usability showed that this system is efficient and there are only a few problems in the feature of helping users to detect and recover from errors.

CONCLUSION

It seems necessary to develop a system based on the principles of usability by therapists and rehabilitation specialists to train and monitor the remote rehabilitation process of patients after knee joint replacement at home. And the importance of involving stakeholders in the design and development of remote rehabilitation systems is not hidden from anyone. Kara system has all of the above.

Quality of counselling assessed by patients after total knee arthroplasty: A cross-sectional study

Patient counselling is a key function in nursing. High-quality counselling promotes adherence to treatment and reduces complications. The purpose of the study was to describe the quality of counselling experienced by total knee arthroplasty patients following surgery. The study was a descriptive cross-sectional study. The data were collected from patients following total knee arthroplasty (N = 60) in 2016 with a modified Quality of Counselling Instrument, and analysed using statistical methods. Over half of the patients (58%) were women and the mean age was 68 years (range 49-84). Over a quarter of patients (28.9%) lived alone, and about two-thirds were overweight (42.1%), or obese (31.6%). After surgery, many patients (88%) experienced moderate pain. Half of patients (52.6%) received a good quality of counselling for the disease and its treatment, and counselling for recovery from treatment (81.6%) was good. Most patients (92.1%) received satisfactory counselling about physical activity. There was a correlation between the disease and its treatment counselling and quality of life (r = -0.553, p = 0.003) and pain (r = -0657, p = 0.000). Interaction during counselling was good (97.4%) and it was implemented in a patient-centred way (89.5%). High-quality counselling implemented in a patient-centred manner can play a part in reducing pain and increasing patients' quality of life.

Relationship Between Quality of Care and Patient Care Outcomes for Postoperative Pain in Major Orthopedic Surgery: Analytical and Cross-Sectional Study

The quality of care provided for the management of postoperative pain and patient outcomes are key criteria for healthcare institutions. This study aimed to determine the relationship between the quality of care provided for the alleviation of postoperative pain experienced among patients undergoing major orthopedic surgery and the patient care outcomes. The study was designed as an analytical and cross-sectional study. The rates of pain severity and sleep interference, activity interference, affective experiences, and adverse effects due to postoperative pain were higher in female patients than in male patients. A significant positive correlation was identified between the quality of postoperative pain care and the perception of care (p < .05). Implementing nursing interventions to improve pain management and increase the quality of care appears to be vital elements for reducing adverse effects caused by pain and increasing the satisfaction with postoperative pain care.

Analgesic Outcomes in a Danish Acute Care Hospital Following Electronic Prescribing and Analgesic Self-Administration

BACKGROUND

Despite the long-term consequences of poorly controlled postoperative pain, inadequate pain control remains a problem.

AIMS

To improve the quality of postoperative pain management, the study site, an acute care hospital in Denmark, introduced electronic prescribing with standard order-sets, and allowed patients to self-administer analgesia. This study aimed to describe analgesic prescribing, prescriptions for multimodal analgesia, analgesic administration, and patients' pain experience, in this context.

DESIGN

Point-prevalence survey.

SETTINGS

One Danish regional hospital.

PARTICIPANTS

Consecutive sample of 286 surgical inpatients comprising 65 orthopaedic, 41 gynaecological, 57 urology and 123 gastrointestinal patients.

METHODS

We evaluated the quality of postoperative pain management on four postoperative surgical wards using: (1) the Revised American Pain Society Patient Outcome Questionnaire; and (2) patient chart audit.

RESULTS

Overall, 89.2% of patients were prescribed a fixed analgesic and 71.7% were prescribed fixed analgesics in multimodal combination. Patterns of multimodal prescribing and administration varied significantly across surgical groups. Patients received 87.7% of available fixed prescriptions and 22.5% of available analgesics prescribed 'as needed'. However, patients' worst pain intensity was high (mean = 5.8/10, SD = 2) and 73.4% reported moderate-to-severe worst pain during the previous 24-hours. Patients who self-administered medications used significantly more fixed-schedule paracetamol (p = .018), non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (p = .001), weak (p = .035) and strong (p < .001) opioids.

CONCLUSIONS

The availability of multimodal analgesia was high following the introduction of electronic prescribing. However, gaps remain in the administration of both fixed and 'as needed' analgesics for postoperative patients. Findings suggested that allowing patients to self-administer analgesia may increase compliance with fixed schedule prescriptions.

The Effect of an App for Day-to-Day Postoperative Care Education on Patients With Total Knee Replacement: Randomized Controlled Trial

Background

Patients who undergo primary Total Knee Replacement surgery (TKR) are often discharged within 1-3 days after surgery. With this relatively short length of hospital stay, a patient’s self-management is a crucial factor in optimizing the outcome of their treatment. In the case of TKR, self-management primarily involves adequate pain management, followed by physiotherapy exercises and daily self-care activities. Patients are educated on all these topics by hospital staff upon discharge from the hospital but often struggle to comprehend this information due to its quantity, complexity, and the passive mode of communication used to convey it.

Objective

This study primarily aims to determine whether actively educating TKR patients with timely, day-to-day postoperative care information through an app could lead to a decrease in their level of pain compared to those who only receive standard information about their recovery through the app. In addition, physical functioning, quality of life, ability to perform physiotherapy exercises and daily self-care activities, satisfaction with information, perceived involvement by the hospital, and health care consumption were also assessed.

Methods

A multicenter randomized controlled trial was performed in five Dutch hospitals. In total, 213 patients who had undergone elective, primary, unilateral TKR participated. All patients had access to an app for their smartphone and tablet to guide them after discharge. The intervention group could unlock day-to-day information by entering a personal code. The control group only received weekly, basic information. Primary (level of pain) and secondary outcomes (physical functioning, quality of life, ability to perform physiotherapy exercises and activities of daily self-care, satisfaction with information, perceived involvement by the hospital, and health care consumption) were measured using self-reported online questionnaires. All outcomes were measured weekly in the four weeks after discharge, except for physical functioning and quality of life, which were measured at baseline and at four weeks after discharge. Data was analyzed using Student t tests, chi-square tests, and linear mixed models for repeated measures.

Results

In total, 114 patients were enrolled in the intervention group (IG) and 99 in the control group (CG). Four weeks after discharge, patients in the IG performed significantly better than patients in the CG on all dimensions of pain: pain at rest (mean 3.45 vs mean 4.59; P=.001), pain during activity (mean 3.99 vs mean 5.08; P&lt;.001) and pain at night (mean 4.18 vs mean 5.21; P=.003). Additionally, significant differences were demonstrated in favor of the intervention group for all secondary outcomes.

Conclusions

In the four weeks following TKR, the active and day-to-day education of patients via the app significantly decreased their level of pain and improved their physical functioning, quality of life, ability to perform physiotherapy exercises and activities of daily self-care, satisfaction with information, perceived involvement by the hospital, and health care consumption compared to standard patient education. Given the rising number of TKR patients and the increased emphasis on self-management, we suggest using an app with timely postoperative care education as a standard part of care.

Trial Registration

Netherlands Trial Register NTR7182; https://www.trialregister.nl/trial/6992

Acupuncture for perioperative care of total hip arthroplasty: A systemic review of controlled trials and meta-analysis

INTRODUCTION

This protocol is intended to conduct a systematic review and meta-analysis to evaluate the efficacy and safety of acupuncture in perioperative care of total hip arthroplasty patients.

METHODS AND ANALYSIS

The following databases will be searched from their inception to November 2018 without language restrictions: MEDLINE, EMBASE, the Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials, the Cumulative Index to Nursing and Allied Health Literature, Oriental Medicine Advanced Searching Integrated System, Korean Traditional Knowledge Portal, KoreaMed, DBPIA, Research Information Service System, including the China National Knowledge Infrastructure. Any randomized controlled trials related to perioperative care of total hip arthroplasty will be included. The primary outcomes of this study are dosage of analgesics and pain intensity. For secondary outcomes, Harris hip score, incidence of postoperative cognitive dysfunction, mini-mental state exam score, incidence of deep vein thrombosis, D-dimer and fibrinogen level, adverse events will be assessed. Data analysis and synthesis will be carried out using RevMan version 5.3. The methodological quality will be assessed by the Cochrane Collaboration risk of bias tool.

SYSTEMATIC REVIEW REGISTRATION

PROSPERO CRD42018112123.

Electroacupuncture for postoperative pain management after total knee arthroplasty: Protocol for a systematic review and meta-analysis

BACKGROUND

Total knee arthroplasty (TKA) is one of the most common joint replacement surgeries in the United States. Postoperative pain is still a major complication after TKA. Electroacupuncture (EA) has been commonly used in clinical practice for pain after TKA, but its effects and safety remain uncertain. This protocol is described for a systematic review to investigate the beneficial effects and safety of EA for postoperative pain after TKA.

METHODS

Randomized controlled trials (RCTs) related to EA treatment of pain after TKA will be collected from 3 databases of English literature, namely PubMed, Embase, and Cochrane Library, and 4 databases of Chinese literatures, namely CBM, CNKI, VIP and Wanfang database. The retrieved trials will be those published from the time when the respective databases were built to January 2018. The therapeutic effects according to the change from baseline in the amount of pain measured by the visual analogue scale (VAS) or numerical rating scale, will be accepted as the primary outcomes. We will use RevMan V.5.3 software as well to compute the data synthesis carefully when a meta-analysis is allowed.

RESULTS

This systematic review and meta-analysis will provide a high-quality synthesis of current evidence of EA for pain after TKA.

CONCLUSION

The conclusion of our systematic review will provide evidence to judge whether EA is an effective intervention for patient with postoperative pain after TKA.

PROSPERO REGISTRATION NUMBER

PROSPERO CRD 42018082407.