Knee-body image following a total knee replacement.
Research type
Research Study
Full title
Knee-body image following a total knee replacement.
IRAS ID
130510
Contact name
Cormac Ryan
Contact email
Sponsor organisation
Teesside University
Research summary
Following total knee replacement (TKR) surgery some patients continue to have high levels of pain and knee dysfunction. This may be due to a distorted mental body image of the knee in the patient’s brain. Persistent pain can disrupt the representation of a painful body part in an individual’s brain which in turn can play a role in maintaining an individual's pain. A disruption of the knee-body image has been found in patients with long standing osteoarthritis of the knee. Thus, it is possible such a disruption is present in patients following a TKR, and this may explain why some continue to have pain and dysfunction post-surgery.
The aims of this study are to:
1) Investigate if patients following a TKR have a disrupted knee-body image of their replaced knee compared to their other knee.
2) Explore if such a difference is specific to the operated knee or a difference in body image perception between the left and right side of the body.
3) Investigate if knee-body image ~2 weeks post-surgery is predictive of pain and function levels ~3 months after surgery.In this study participant’s knee-body image will be assessed twice; ~2 weeks post-surgery at the beginning of their usual care physiotherapy and ~3 months post-surgery. Knee-body image will be measured using a brief, pain-free, computer based test where the participant is shown pictures of a lower leg and must judge if it is a left or right leg (a laterality test). The more images correctly judged as being left or right (accuracy), and the faster their judgement call (reaction time) the better their performance. Hand-body image will be measured in a similar way using pictures of the upper limb/hand. Pain, reported function, active physical function of the knee and global assessment of overall improvement will also be measured.
REC name
North East - Newcastle & North Tyneside 2 Research Ethics Committee
REC reference
13/NE/0244
Date of REC Opinion
14 Aug 2013
REC opinion
Favourable Opinion