A new study suggests that specific muscle-strengthening exercises aimed at the quadriceps muscle can make an important difference in how well patients recover from knee replacement surgery. Almost 500,000 knee replacement surgeries are performed in the United States each year. The Sacramento Bee Newspaper reported on this study, which appears in the February 2009 issue of Arthritis Care & Research.

In the study, one group of patients who were recovering from knee replacement surgery underwent six weeks of an exercise program which focused on progressive strengthening of the quadriceps muscle. This group of patients recovered better than the patients in the group who were given conventional treatments.

More than 200 patients participated in the study about four weeks after they had knee replacement surgery. The patients were divided into three groups and were given different treatments. One group received conventional treatment, which included inpatient rehabilitation and physical therapy. A second group was given the quadriceps strengthening exercise regime. The third group was given the quadriceps strengthening exercise regime and also received electrical stimulation to make the muscles contract.

According to the study, knee replacement surgery patients report that the replacement procedure results in significant levels of pain reduction and the return of much of their mobility. However, problems doing things like walking and climbing are reported by many patients.

The group of patients in the study who did the quadriceps strengthening appeared to return back to a higher level of functioning.

In the third group, the electrical stimulation did not appear to make a difference. However, the researchers said that the quadriceps strengthening exercise regime appeared to return those patients back to an almost normal level of functioning also.