Joint stiffness after surgery

With the continuous advancement of medical technology, orthopedic sports injuries are no longer a problem that people are at a loss for. Through surgical treatment, many orthopedic patients have recovered their health. However, orthopedic surgery is not foolproof, because patients may face a series of more troublesome rehabilitation problems after surgery. For example, joint stiffness is a common postoperative complication in clinical practice. Patients with joint stiffness often show a series of obstacles in joint flexion and extension.

1. Causes of joint stiffness

1. Any cause of joint adhesion is also the cause of joint stiffness

Edema, repeated injuries, passive traction, long-term plaster fixation, improper internal fixation with steel needles, internal fixation with steel plates, surgical trauma, lack of timely treatment after contusion, and lack of timely exercise after fracture healing can all lead to the occurrence of joint ankylosis.

2. Joint diseases

All joints with arthritis, especially rheumatic atrophic arthritis, are most likely to become fixed and cause stiffness. Such as joint ankylosis caused by acute suppurative inflammation, rheumatoid arthritis, ankylosing spondylitis, osteoarthritis, suppurative arthritis and bone tuberculosis.

2. Treatment Principles

1. Mild patients

Local massage, physical therapy, external application of Chinese medicine, joint function exercisers and manual release can be used as therapies. Non-surgical therapies are also suitable for those with contraindications to surgery and as auxiliary treatments before and after surgery.

2. Severely ill patients

Joint adhesion lysis should be performed. For patients with malformed fracture healing, the deformity should generally be corrected first. Those with local soft tissue defects should also undergo reconstructive surgery. Active and positive joint function exercises should be started as early as possible so that stiff joints can recover their functions as soon as possible.

How to avoid joint stiffness after surgery

1. Early postoperative activities vary depending on the injury, and different diseases have different activity times, but the general principle is that within the time allowed for activity, pain can be tolerated and the angle is gradually increased.

2. The time for activity after fracture surgery is more complicated. If the internal fixation of the operation is relatively stable, you can move early. If the fracture is more complicated and the fixation is not very stable, you need to take X-rays to determine whether the fracture has initial healing, so as to decide the time for activity after surgery.

3. Joint stiffness is more likely to recover within three months after surgery, while the difficulty of recovering joint stiffness for more than three months increases with time. In short, being able to move the joints as early as possible can fundamentally reduce the occurrence of joint stiffness.

4. When there is swelling after surgery, exudation will increase and the chance of adhesion will also increase. Therefore, in the early postoperative period, you can use ice compresses, elevate the affected limb, and perform electrotherapy to promote the elimination of swelling as soon as possible, thereby reducing the possibility of joint stiffness.

5. Static contraction of the muscles around the joints can promote blood circulation around the joints. This can not only promote the elimination of swelling, but also train the muscles around the joints to a certain extent. When active and passive movements of the joints are not possible, this method can improve muscle strength and reduce joint stiffness to a certain extent.