2023 Volume 3 Issue 1 Pages 7-13
Objective: The purpose of this study was to clarify the relationship between preoperative walking speed and hospital discharge within 14 days after total knee arthroplasty (TKA).
Methods: The study included 294 patients who underwent TKA from April, 2016 to March, 2021. We divided the patients into two groups: an early-discharge group (≦14 days) and a delayed-transfer group (>14 days), based on discharge home 14 days postoperatively. We investigated the preoperative walking speed of the patients, and compared it between the two groups. Furthermore, we investigated whether preoperative walking speed is a risk factor for difficulty in discharge home within 14 days after surgery using logistic regression analysis.
Results: The preoperative walking speed of the delayed-transfer group was significantly slower than that of the early-discharge group (P<0.01). Furthermore, it was found that low preoperative walking speed was a risk factor that made discharge difficult within 14 days after surgery.
Conclusion: These results suggest that evaluation of preoperative walking speed is useful for predicting whether patients can be discharged within 14 days after TKA.
