Sept 25 : A review of earlier studies has found that Physiotherapy can help improve the day to day lives of patients who have undergone knee replacement surgery due to osteoarthritis.

However, this improvement was only for the short-term.

As a part of the review the researchers analysed six trials involving 614 patients.

The effectiveness of physiotherapy was measured in terms of improving function, quality of life, walking, range of motion in the knee joint, and muscle strength.

The researchers noted that there was a small to moderate effect of functional exercise on joint motion and quality of life at three to four months after surgery, but the effect was not sustained at one year.

Based on the evidence, the researchers recommend that referring patients for a short course of functional physiotherapy exercise after discharge might be a good thing.

The review is published on bmj.com. (ANI)