Prevalence of Post-Surgical Pain and Quality of Life After Total Knee Replacement

Total knee arthroplasty appears to be particularly advantageous for patients with significant knee joint disorders such as osteoarthritis, rheumatoid arthritis, and post-traumatic arthritis. Objective: To investigate the prevalence of post-surgical pain after total knee replacement and its impact on quality of life. Methods: This cross-sectional study was conducted at The University of Lahore Teaching Hospital during the period of 5th April, 2023 to 5th January, 2024 on 185 participants using a non-probability convenience sampling technique. It included both male and female patients between age of 50 to 80 years, undergoing TKR following diagnosis of osteoarthritis only, and patients who had undergone a TKR operation at least six months previously. A numeric pain rating scale was used for data collection. Data were analyzed using IBM SPSS version 25.0. Results: The participants' average age was 62.94 ± 6.33 years. 79 (42.7%) participants reported light pain, 82 (44.3%) reported moderate pain, and 24 (14.0%) reported severe pain. The mean and standard deviation of pain is 4.62 ± 2.08 and quality of life is 61.05 ± 15.16. The results showed a moderately negative correlation (r = -0.482, p=0.000) between pain and quality of life, demonstrating that there is a substantial decrease in quality of life with increasing pain levels. Conclusions: This study demonstrates that a significant percentage of individuals following total knee replacement have moderate to severe post-surgical pain. The findings indicate a clear relationship between higher pain levels and a decrease in quality of life.