The acute cross-education effect of foam rolling on the thigh muscles in patients after total knee arthroplasty.
Masanobu Yokochi, Masatoshi Nakamura, Ayaka Iwata and 3 others
PMID 39619124WHAT IT FOUND
Rolling the non-operated thigh for 3 minutes immediately reduced pain and increased range of motion in the operated knee during the first week after total knee replacement.
This offers a way to manage pain early without touching the surgical site.
Key findings
01A 3-minute foam rolling intervention on the non-operative leg significantly improved pain, stiffness, and range of motion on the operative side immediately after the intervention compared to rest.
02Pain at rest decreased by a mean of 14.6 mm on a 100 mm scale after the intervention, compared to a 1.0 mm decrease during the control rest period.
03Active knee flexion range of motion improved by a mean of 8.0 degrees after the intervention, whereas there was no change during the control rest period.
STILL TO COME
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What it does not show
The study had a small sample size of 20 participants and a significant sex bias, with 75% women. The study only measured acute effects immediately after the intervention, so it is unknown how long the pain relief and range of motion improvements last. The crossover design compared the intervention to rest, but did not compare it to other common interventions like stretching or manual therapy. Participants were already receiving standard care including pain medication and icing, so the effect of foam rolling is in addition to these treatments. The study was conducted in a single center with one surgeon performing all operations, which may limit generalizability.
Declared interests
The study was supported by JSPS KAKENHI and the University of Graz. The authors declared that the sponsors had no involvement in the study design, data collection, analysis, interpretation, or manuscript writing.
The easy way to misread this
Do not assume that foam rolling the non-operated leg provides long-term functional recovery or replaces standard postoperative care. The study only demonstrated immediate, short-term changes in pain and range of motion, and the effect duration was not assessed.