Essential amino acid supplementation associated with improved TKA recovery

NEW ORLEANS — After unilateral total knee arthroplasty, patients who received essential amino acid supplementation prior to and just after surgery did better on the timed up-and-go test through 6 weeks postoperatively than patients who received a placebo, according to a presenter at the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons Annual Meeting, here.

David J. Mayman, MD, presented results of a randomized, controlled trial in which three physicians at Hospital for Special Surgery either administered a GNC formula of 20 g of amino acid (EAA) or placebo to patients twice daily before and just after surgery. Mayman and colleagues evaluated function in the patients who could walk and were discharged to home after surgery to determine the results.

David J. Mayman

He described this as a straightforward study with a conclusion physicians can take back to their practices next week and start doing.

“Supplementation of amino acid prior to and for the first 2 weeks after surgery is a safe and easy way to improve patient recovery after surgery. It should be considered as part of your perioperative management in total knee replacement,” he said, noting the availability of commercial supplements makes it possible to quickly adopt this practice.

“There were no differences in any perioperative complications between the two groups,” Mayman said.

Two limits of the study, he said, were the physical therapy the patients underwent was unsupervised and physicians put no restrictions on the rest of the diet of the patients enrolled in the study. – by Susan M. Rapp

Reference:

Jerabek SA, et al. Paper #878. Presented at: American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons Annual Meeting; March 6-10, 2018; New Orleans.

Disclosure: Mayman reports no relevant financial disclosures.