Isokinetic rehabilitation after surgery. A review of factors which are important for developing physiotherapeutic techniques after knee surgery.

The postoperative rehabilitation of individuals who've had surgery has been a primary concern of all members of the health care community. With the advent of new training devices for use during the rehabilitation period (i.e., isokinetic training devices) and new research in sports medicine, there has been a renewed interest in how to best rehabilitate individuals following surgery (knee surgery, in particular). This paper briefly reviews basic muscle physiology as it relates to muscle fiber types and recruitment patterns. Subsequently, it reviews studies that have investigated muscle atrophy and methods to reduce muscle dysfunction related to surgery, immobilization, and disuse. Finally, it reviews isokinetic training studies and examines the concept of "specificity of speed" training. These principles of muscle physiology and muscle plasticity are then applied to a proposed isokinetic rehabilitation program which might be adapted for use following joint surgery.