1. Introduction
end-stage knee osteoarthritis, OA, Pain, ±, muscle soreness, pain, knee arthroplasty, balance dysfunction, TKA, knee flexion and extension ROM, knee pain
We investigate the effect of a 1-week comprehensive foam rolling (FR) intervention program on knee pain, range of motion (ROM), and muscle function in patients with TKA.Thirty patients with TKA were randomly allocated to FR (n = 15) or control (n = 15) groups. The control group received only regular physical therapy. Patients in the FR group performed the FR intervention in addition to their regular physical therapy twice daily from postoperative weeks two to three (60 s × 3 repetitions × 2 times/day × 6 days: total = 2160 s). Pain score, knee flexion and extension ROM, muscle strength, walking function, and balance function were measured before and after the FR intervention. From the second to third postoperative weeks, there were significant improvements in all variables, and the reduction in pain score at stretching was significantly greater in the FR group (−26.0 ± 1.4; Total knee arthroplasty (TKA) can reduce pain and improve the knee joint’s range of motion (ROM) in patients with end-stage knee osteoarthritis (OA). However, previous studies have shown that TKA induces limited knee joint ROM and decreases motor functions, such as walking speed. It is also well-known that pain in the early postoperative period is associated with improved knee joint ROM, pain, and walking speed three months after TKA. Specifically, previous studies have shown a significantly slower walking speed and a significant impairment in the knee joint flexion angle in the early stance phase and knee joint extension angle in the middle stance phase in patients with TKA as compared with healthy subjects [Recently, foam rolling (FR) has attracted attention as a method for relieving pain and improving ROM in the sports field. It can be assumed that FR has a favorable effect in patients with TKA since no knee flexion is required, as is in stretching. Nakamura et al. showed that a single FR intervention could decrease muscle soreness and increase ROM in eccentrically induced damaged muscles in healthy participants [However, the effect of an FR intervention program on patients with TKA remains unclear. Regarding balance dysfunction, a previous study showed that 3% of post-TKA patients fall during hospitalization [