The Effect Of Therapy Of Fumigating And Washing Of Lower Extremities For The Early Postoperative Rehabilitation After Anterior Cruciate Ligament Reconstruction

ObjectiveThe arthroscopic surgery of anterior cruciate ligament reconstruction has become increasingly popular. The early postoperative rehabilitation training is as important as the operation itself. However, during our clinical practices, it was found that those complications result from early postoperative training such as in pain, joint effusion, persistent inflammation, etc. are extremely hampered the smooth progress of the rehabilitation scheme, so as to affect the curative effect of surgeries. In this project, Chinese traditional therapy of herbal fumigation and washing of lower extremities will be introduced in the early stage of postoperative rehabilitation. The purpose of this study is to investigate whether the related complication could be relieved with this therapy so as to ensure the quality of rehabilitation and effect of surgeries.MethodsDuring the period of February of2010to October of2011, the patients with ACL injury receiving treatment in the orthopedics department of the175th Hospital of People’s Liberation Army were selected. All of them were blunt trauma for more than one week, and no more than two months. All the patients were taken the ACL reconstruction of single bundle out of two strands with autogenous hamstring tendons assisted by arthroscopic surgery, using compressed fixation with absorbable interface screws. Patients were equally divided into2random groups, the experimental group received the therapy of fumigating and washing of lower extremities cooperating with active rehabilitation training while the control group taking the same rehabilitation training only. Perform evaluation in the1st,2nd and4th week after surgery, including degree of knee swelling, VAS score and ROM. Besides, during the3months after surgery, performing joint stability check, MRI examination, Lysholm score, IKDC subjective score and HSS score in the follow-up visits. The data were collected for statistical analysis.ResultsThe follow-up visits during the3months post of surgery were all completed on the40cases. In the2nd and4th week after the surgery, both the degree of knee swelling, and the VAS pain scores in the experimental group were lower than the control group while the ROM were higher than the control group at the same period, the difference provide statistical significance (P<0.05). From the follow-up visits during the3months post of surgery, it was found that the difference comparison of line joint stability, bone tunnel diameter and Lysholm score did not provide statistical significance (P>0.05), but he IKDC score in the experimental group were higher than the control group and provide statistical significance (P<0.05).ConclusionThe therapy of fumigating and washing of lower extremities can efficiently improve treating of the arthritis in the early stage of postoperative rehabilitation process after the surgery of the ACL reconstruction. It lowers the degree of pain and swelling, improves the patient compliance and training quality, and guarantees the smooth progress of the rehabilitation scheme. Low cost, reliable curative effect and high patient satisfaction are all the advantages of the rehabilitation therapy combining Chinese and Western medicine. It is worthy of popularization.