Rehabilitation of patients with anterior knee pain syndrome after arthroscopy using robotic orthoses: clinical efficacy of the Loсomat Pro device

Background. Robotic training and rehabilitation is a field of research that aims to understand and expand patient reco­very using robotic orthoses. The purpose was to analyze the results of rehabilitation treatment using the Lokomat Pro version 6.0 (Hocoma AG, Volketswil, Switzerland) in the rehabilitation of patients after knee arthroscopy with anterior pain syndrome using clinical and instrumental assessment of the knee joint. Materials and methods. Thirty-four patients with anterior knee pain syndrome (18 women, 28.6 ± 7.0 years old, and 42 men, 38.2 ± 8.0 years old) were exa­mined. The patients walked in the Locomat Рro robotic orthosis with different settings of body weight support, from 65 to 20–10 %. A multivariate analysis of clinical parameters was performed, including pain level according to the Visual analog scale (VAS) and the Anterior knee pain scale (AKPS), functional characteristics of the joint according to the Knee Society Score (KSS), quality of life according to the SF-36 scale, as well as the duration of patient reco­very and the incidence of complications. Results. It has been found that rehabilitation of patients with robotic orthosis Lokomat Pro yields positive clinical results. 3 months after the surgery, the level of pain in patients decreased to 1.2 ± 0.4 points on the VAS scale, and the AKPS score increased to 89.0 ± 2.0 points, the functional indices (KSS scale) increased to 90 points. Overall, the average pain reduction was 83 %, the functional capabilities improved by an average of 37.4 %, and the condition of the anterior knee joint by 44 %. Additionally, the social and psychological spheres improved significantly: the level of role restrictions due to physical health and emotional state increased by 55 % and 14 %, respectively. Conclusion. During the 3-month rehabilitation course using the Lokomat Pro system, patients demonstrated significant improvement in all areas studied, confirming the high effectiveness and safety of this technology in short-term rehabilitation to enhance the quality of life for patients after knee arthroscopy.