Introduction: Osteoarthritis is an inflammatory disease of the synovial joints that is currently considered incurable. Symptoms include pain, swelling, limited range of motion, morning stiffness and reduced muscle strength. We aim to improve muscle performance with preoperative training to achieve faster postoperative rehabilitation and return to function. Purpose: The purpose was to review the literature to determine whether preoperative training affects postoperative outcomes in patients undergoing total knee arthroplasty. Purpose: The aim of this diploma work was to determine, based on a literature review, whether preoperative training has an impact on postoperative outcomes in patients undergoing total knee arthroplasty. Methods: The literature review method was used. The literature search was performed in the PubMed database. We used combinations of keywords in English language to search for studies and selected them based on inclusion and exclusion criteria. Results: Of the six included studies in which patients completed various forms of preoperative training, the authors reported positive effects on postoperative outcomes in five of the studies. Two studies confirmed the positive effects of preoperative training on quadriceps strength. Three months after total knee arthroplasty, quadriceps strength in the intervention group returned to baseline, while quadriceps muscle strength in the control group decreased by up to 40% after three months compared to baseline measurements. Two studies confirmed positive effects on knee joint range of motion and in four studies on pain intensity immediately after the intervention and up to three months after surgery. Discussion and conclusion: Better results were found in studies with longer intervention duration and higher exercise frequency. The results of the evaluated studies suggest that it is useful to perform preoperative exercise training in patients with knee osteoarthritis before total knee arthroplasty. Preoperative training helps to reduce subjective pain intensity, improve knee range of motion, increase quadriceps strength in the affected lower limb and improve physical function. To facilitate comparison of results, it would be useful to use the same combination of assessment protocols in different studies.
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