Can we make knee surgeries more successful through targeted expectation management?

Total knee replacement (TKR) surgery is one of the most common surgical procedures worldwide. Many patients feel significantly better after the surgery, but 10 to 20 percent of those who undergo the procedure are not satisfied with the results or continue to experience chronic pain. Medical and surgical factors alone do not fully explain why these treatment goals are not met.

Given the already high and rapidly rising number of people who require TKR surgery, new strategies are urgently needed to improve surgical outcomes and reduce the burden of disease on patients and the healthcare system. Previous studies have shown that patients’ expectations prior to knee surgery are linked to surgical success: individuals with positive expectations also have better surgical outcomes. This is where Project AF02 comes in.

Materials and discussions to foster realistic and positive expectations for knee surgery

The affiliated project is developing communication strategies aimed at optimizing patients’ expectations before TKR surgery and improving surgical outcomes in the long term. To this end, the researchers are developing materials that convey personalized, realistic and positive expectations about the surgery and life afterward. In addition, this positive yet always realistic perspective is reinforced through personal conversations via telephone or video calls.

If the intervention approach from Project AF02 can improve patient outcomes beyond the current standard of care, it would be an easy-to-implement, scalable, and cost-effective measure to improve the quality of life for this large patient population, while simultaneously reducing costs for the healthcare system.