Alternative technique for knee manipulation under anesthesia

Abstract

Total knee arthroplasty is a successful surgery for the majority of patients with osteoarthrosis of the knee. Approximately 5% of patients undergoing total knee arthroplasty experience loss of motion or arthrofibrosis. Manipulation under anesthesia (MUA) is generally indicated for patients who do not achieve >90° of flexion by 6-12 weeks postoperatively. Complications from MUA are rare but can be devastating. We describe a novel technique for MUA with no reported major complications in our review of 78 patients. The average flexion improved from 80.0 (±3.8) before manipulation to 115.4 (±2.1) after manipulation. There were no major complications including fracture or extensor mechanism injury. Keywords: Total knee complications, Manipulation under anesthesia, Arthrofibrosis, Post operative stiffness, Total knee manipulation