Effects of Manual Lymphatic Drainage on the Pain, Lymphedema, ROM and ADL in Patients after Total Knee Arthroplasty

The study aimed to determine the effect of manual lymphatic drainage (MLD) on pain, lymphedema, range of motion (ROM), and activities of daily living (ADL) in patients after total knee arthroplasty (TKA). Nine patients after TKA participated in this study, and each participant received MLD therapy for 20 minutes per session, five times a week, for two weeks. The study participants had an average age of 71.33±5.14 years, with most being women, and an average body mass index of 28.32±2.31. Assessments of pain, lymphedema, range of motion, and ADL were conducted using the visual analog scale, lymphedema measurement, range of motion (ROM) assessment, and the Korean version of the modified Barthel index before and after the treatment. After the two-week intervention, patients experienced significant improvements in pain, lymphedema, ROM, and ADL (p<.05). These results suggest that MLD therapy improves pain, lymphedema, ROM, and ADL. This study demonstrates that MLD can have a positive effect on the recovery of TKA patients and provides valuable data for future research. Further studies with a larger number of participants and longer experimental durations are needed to strengthen these findings.