These authors reference an earlier published study suggesting that the incidence of arthrofibrosis after total knee replacement can range between 1% and 17%. In this study they evaluate the usefulness of gray-scale and power Doppler sonography in identifying arthrofibrosis in total knee replacement patients. It seems to be the first study of its kind.
Their own study included 3000 knee replacements of the 'mobile-bearing' kind all done in the same hospital from 1988 onwards. They identified a subgroup 38 patients in which range of movement (ROM) was much reduced and who had other signs and symptoms highly indicative of arthrofibrosis, and in whom other causes for the symptoms had been excluded. All of these patients had had at least one manipulation under anaesthesia (MUA) and most had had interventional surgery for debridment (cutting away scar tissue).
The sonography was done with the patients lying on their backs with knees bent to 90 degrees while the examiner performed the sonography around the patellar area. The authors give technical details of the procedure if readers are interested in accessing the original article. There was a control group of patients who had also had total knee replacement but who were not arthrofibrotic.
