Effect of Preoperative Physiotherapy on Postoperative Recovery in Patients Undergoing Total Knee Arthroplasty at University College Hospital, Ibadan

Preoperative physiotherapy (prehabilitation) is proposed to optimise muscle strength, range of motion, and functional status before total knee arthroplasty (TKA), potentially accelerating post-operative recovery. While prehabilitation is increasingly practised internationally, its evidence base within the Nigerian healthcare context has not been established. This single-blind randomised controlled trial evaluates the effect of a six-week preoperative physiotherapy programme on post-operative recovery outcomes following elective TKA at University College Hospital (UCH), Ibadan, South West Nigeria. Sixty patients with end-stage knee osteoarthritis will be randomised to a structured prehabilitation programme or standard care. Outcomes at six weeks and three months post-TKA will include the Oxford Knee Score (OKS), time to straight leg raise, quadriceps strength, length of hospital stay, and post-operative physiotherapy attendance rates. Blinded assessors will conduct all outcome measurements. The study hypothesises that prehabilitation reduces hospital stay by at least two days and produces significantly superior OKS at six weeks. Findings will be submitted to the arthroplasty unit at UCH and published to contribute to the growing evidence base for surgical prehabilitation programmes in low-resource settings. Keywords: preoperative physiotherapy, prehabilitation, total knee arthroplasty, Oxford Knee Score, Ibadan.