ArticlePhysical therapy research2025
Effects of Neuromuscular Electrical Stimulation on Quadriceps Muscle Strength in the Early Postoperative Period after Total Knee Arthroplasty.
Article in Physical therapy research, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 2 papers.
What it found
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
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Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
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Who cites it
2 citing papers in PubMed.
- Early-Phase Quadriceps Activation After Knee Surgery: A Narrative Review of Current Rehabilitation Interventions and Identification of an Unmet Clinical Need.Journal of clinical medicine · 2026Review
- Comparative Effects of Rehabilitation Programs After Total Knee Arthroplasty: A Modified GLA:DJournal of clinical medicine · 2025Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
6 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
objectivesThis study aimed to determine whether neuromuscular electrical stimulation (NMES) of the quadriceps muscle early after total knee arthroplasty (TKA) is effective in improving muscle strength.
methodsThis was a single-center, non-blinded, randomized controlled trial involving 37 patients (60 knees) who underwent TKA. Patients were randomly assigned to either the intervention group (19 patients, 30 knees) or the control group (18 patients, 30 knees). Both groups received standard rehabilitation starting on postoperative day 1. Additionally, the intervention group received NMES therapy starting on postoperative day 2. NMES was administered at the highest tolerable intensity for 15 min per session (10-s stimulation and 10-s rest) twice daily for 4 weeks. Outcome measures included voluntary isometric quadriceps strength, knee joint range of motion (ROM), visual analog scale (VAS), and the Timed Up and Go (TUG) test, which were assessed preoperatively and at 4, 8, and 12 weeks postoperatively. The outcomes were compared between the two groups.
resultsBoth groups showed improvements in all outcomes over time. However, no significant differences were observed between the two groups (muscle strength: p = 0.412, flexion ROM: p = 0.668, extension ROM: p = 1.000, VAS score: p = 0.192, TUG test score: p = 0.296) (p-values are main effects of group factors in the split-plot analysis of variance).
conclusionsNMES in the early postoperative period after TKA did not provide significant additional functional recovery benefits compared with standard rehabilitation.
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