Perioperative experiences of patients with high pain catastrophizing and knee arthroplasty after receiving or not preoperative physiotherapy: Qualitative study

Among the risk factors studied for persistent pain after total knee arthroplasty (TKA), pain catastrophizing stands out above the others. In this regard, preoperative interventions based on pain neuroscience education or multimodal physiotherapy have been shown to be effective in reducing pain catastrophizing. The present qualitative study aims to explore the perioperative experiences of high pain catastrophizing participants undergoing total knee arthroplasty surgery. Comparisons will be made between those who received, and those who did not receive a preoperative physiotherapy intervention. Based on the purposive sampling approach, participants from a randomized controlled trial were selected. In total, 14 persons participated in face-to-face semi-structured interviews. Following a thematic analysis, the results were divided into two themes: 1) The preoperative experiences of patients with symptomatic knee arthroplasty, covering aspects related to health, functioning, cognition, and behaviour; and 2) The perioperative TKA rehabilitation process, illustrating differing experiences between individuals who received the preoperative physiotherapy interventions and those who did not. While participants who received no preoperative physiotherapy intervention showed limited coping strategies during post-surgery rehabilitation and the same cognitions as before (hypervigilance, rumination, or avoidance of activities), those participants who received the preoperative physiotherapy showed abilities to cope with their pain, felt empowered and were involved in their rehabilitation. •Participants' perioperative experience vary with vs. without physiotherapy.•Preoperative physiotherapy enhanced participants' self-efficacy and management.•Preoperative physiotherapy provided patients active ability to cope with pain.•Preoperative physiotherapy empowered participants during rehabilitation.•Participants without preoperative physiotherapy had limited pain coping.