A COMPARISON OF EARLY POST-OPERATIVE MOBILIZATION AND IMMOBILIZATION FOR BELOW KNEE AMPUTATION

Abstract

Post-operative transtibial or below knee amputation (BKA) complication such as knee flexion contracture have become a burden because it will delay the time to prosthesis fitting for the patient. This study compares the postoperative clinical outcomes of the BKA patients in early mobilization and immobilization (U-slab application),  specifically analyses the degree of affected knee flexion contracture before the operation, at day 2, day 14, and day 60 postoperation and also assesses the post-operative spontaneous stump pain. This is a randomized controlled trial study conducted in a single centre for one year by randomly selected the patient by the turn of surgery and the patient either putting on U-slab or not after BKA. 80 patients were recruited, the female was about 53%. Left-sided below knee amputation recorded about 51%. The study showed a significant difference in the degree of knee flexion contracture between pre-operation and post-operation with a p-value less than 0.05 while performing the unpaired T-test. The Pearson chi-square test showed no significant association between the VAS score for pain and with and without U-slab since a p-value more than 0.05. From this study, the immobilization of the affected stump with Uslab appears to be more superior. However, due to more complications arose after usage of U-slab, the early mobilization technique still advisable as a choice of the treatment.