Abstract: Objective To observe the effect of functional exercise guided by self muscle strength in early rehabilitation on patients after total knee arthroplasty (TKA). Methods From September, 2014 to September, 2015, 62 patients after TKA were randomly divided into experimental group (n=31) and control group (n=31). The control group received conventional rehabilitation training, while the experimental group received rehabilitation training under the guidance of their own muscle strength standard. The degrees of swelling and pain seven days after TKA; the muscle strength seven and 15 days after TKA; the range of motion (ROM), the Keen Society Score (KSS) 15 days after TKA; and the postoperative hospital stay were compared. Results There was no significant difference in all the indexes above between two groups before TKA (t<0.960, P>0.05), and all of them improved after TKA (t>3.470, P<0.01). There was no significant difference in the degrees of swelling (t=1.800, P=0.077) and pain (t=0.840, P=0.404) seven days after TKA. The score of quadriceps strength was higher in the experiment group than in the control group (t>2.280, P<0.05) seven and 15 days after TKA. There was no significant difference in the ROM of the knee and the score of knee between two groups (t>0.850, P>0.05), and the functional score was higher in the experiment group than in the control group (t=5.870, P<0.001) 15 days after TKA. The postoperative hospital stay was shorter in the experiment group (t=7.65, P< 0.01). Conclusion Functional exercise under the guidance of their own muscle strength standard could contribute to the improvement of postoperative muscle strength and knee joint function, and shorten the hospitalization stay.

Key words: total knee arthroplasty, muscle strength standard, functional exercise, postoperative rehabilitation