Total knee arthroplasty and Parkinson disease: enhancing outcomes and avoiding complications.

Total knee arthroplasty (TKA) is typically an extremely successful method of restoring pain-free function and providing good long-term outcomes for patients with end-stage knee disease. However, outcomes are less predictable in persons with Parkinson disease. The limited literature available and our experience lead us to conclude that complication rates in the perioperative and postoperative periods with TKA are comparatively high in persons with Parkinson disease. In addition, a good functional outcome is less certain than in the general population. For persons with Parkinson disease who require TKA, we propose an integrative, collaborative approach to avoid complications and optimize outcomes.

Intraoperative music reduces perceived pain after total knee arthroplasty: a blinded, prospective, randomized, placebo-controlled clinical trial.

Patients undergoing total knee arthroplasty (TKA) often experience a difficult recovery due to severe postoperative pain. Using a multimodal pain management protocol, a blinded, randomized, placebo-controlled study was designed to evaluate the efficacy of patient-selected music on reducing perceived pain. Thirty patients undergoing primary unilateral TKA were enrolled and randomized into the music group (15 patients) or the control group (15 patients). Postoperative pain scores, assessed with the visual analog scale, indicated the music group experienced less pain at 3 and 24 hours postoperatively than did the nonmusic group (at 3 hours: 1.47+/-1.39 versus 3.87+/-3.44, P=.01; at 24 hours: 2.41+/-1.67 versus 4.03+/-2.89, P=.04). Intraoperative music provides an inexpensive nonpharmacological option to further reduce postoperative pain.