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Easy-to-perform lower extremity functional assessment shows initial promise

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LAS VEGAS — A new method for testing patients’ knee function relative to total knee arthroplasty helped investigators that developed the technique better understand how patients respond to joint replacement surgery.

The short, timed test rates how well a patient moves from the seated position to walking a short distance, using stairs, and then walking back to the seated position nicely augments the Knee Society Score and Oxford Knee Score outcomes, according to Gerard A. Engh, MD, of Alexandria, Va.

“Our goal was to develop a test to objectively measure a level of function,” said Engh, who presented results with the new assessment method here during the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons 76th Annual Meeting.

Engh tested the method in two phases in 557 subjects: 312 who had lower extremity arthritis or neurological disease, and 245 healthy subjects who did not have those problems. Comparing the two groups’ scores, he found the mean time difference for completing the test between them was 9 seconds for men and 14 seconds for the women.

The time needed to complete the test generally increased in patients with each passing year, the results showed.

“The functional assessment test is easy to perform and objectively measures patients’ function prior to total knee arthroplasty,” Engh said.

The current questionnaires play a part in helping physicians detect improved function in patients, he added, but they are not always effective.

Work on this effort will be ongoing, Engh noted.

Reference:

• Engh GA, Sheridan MJ, Ammeen D. A new method for measuring function with knee arthroplasty surgery. Paper #254. Presented at the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons 76th Annual Meeting. Feb. 25-28, 2009. Las Vegas.