Pain Neuroscience Education in Patients With Total Knee Arthroplasty

The aim of Pain Neuroscience Education (PNE) is to explain to patients the biological and physiological processes involved in a pain experience and, more importantly, defocus the issues associated with the anatomical structures. PNE provides compelling evidence in reducing pain, disability, pain catastrophization, and limited physical movement in musculoskeletal problems. Knee osteoarthritis (KOA) is a very common painful musculoskeletal problem, especially in people over 50 years old, and lead to decrease in knee range of motion. Despite costly arthroscopic surgeries and long-term physiotherapy treatments, poor outcomes are common. The lack of satisfactory results suggests that some practices should be revised. Although PNE could be useful as an intervention, to our knowledge, there is no randomized controlled trial in the literature investigating the effects of PNE in patients with a KOA. Therefore, we aimed to examine the effectiveness of PNE on clinical outcomes in patients with KOA.