Objectives: To evaluate rehabilitation outcomes in patients following Judet arthrolysis for knee arthrofibrosis.
Subjects àn methods: 34 patients with knee arthrofibrosis of any etiology who underwent Judet arthrolysis at the Institute of Orthopaedics and Trauma, Viet Duc University Hospital, and participated in a structured postoperative rehabilitation program between August 2025 and March 2026.
A prospective, longitudinal, before-and-after study without a control group. Outcomes were assessed at three time points: T0 (preoperative baseline), T1 (2 weeks postoperatively), and T2 (6 weeks postoperatively). Primary outcome measures were knee range of motion measured by standard goniometry and walking function scored by the HSS knee scoring system. Data were analyzed using Wilcoxon test with statistical significance set at p < 0.05.
Results: The mean age was 35.06 ± 15.92 years; 82.4% had severe and 17.6% had moderate knee stiffness. Mean knee range of motion improved significantly from 47.85 ± 17.48° at T0 to 82.88 ± 11.24° at T1 (+35.03 ± 14.85°) and to 99.88 ± 12.49° at T2 (+52.03 ± 14.93° vs. baseline; all p < 0.001). Mean HSS walking score increased from 3.53 ± 1.91 at T0 to 9.53 ± 1.11 at T2 (p < 0.001).
Conclusion: A postoperative rehabilitation program following Judet arthrolysis resulted in significant and clinically meaningful improvements in both knee range of motion and walking function within 6 weeks. These findings support the integration of early, intensive, and supervised rehabilitation as an essential component of the overall treatment strategy for knee arthrofibrosis.