The use of the CPM otherwise known as continuous passive motion, has been in existence in the field of rehabilitation since 1981. The device itself was developed by a Canadian physician. Whether to use the CPM or not is determined by the orthopedic surgeons protocol after having knee surgery or shoulder surgery.
The idea behind the CPM is to get the surgical knee or shoulder moving as soon as possible after surgery. By having the knee or shoulder moving immediately after surgery it will hopefully prevent or retard the formation of scar tissue or adhesions from forming along with, helping to reduce pain.
To this date there is no hard and fast rules regarding the effectiveness of the CPM. It right now is solely up to the surgeon on whether to use it. In some case you will find where the patient themselves have requested to have a CPM applied after surgery.
The CPM can be effective for some patients if they are unable or unwilling to work on flexing and extending the knee after surgery themselves. Rather then have the knee fuse itself due to the lack of movement and following proper exercise protocol then, the CPM is warranted.
It is generally agreed upon by most rehabilitation professionals that the outcome with knee mobility after surgery is unchanged whether the patient used a CPM or not.
Setting the device up properly will also play a big part in getting results and patient comfort. The device itself takes just minutes to get it properly aligned with the patients knee. Frequent misalignment is noted causing the patient more pain and, the device not getting a true range of motion.
The idea behind the CPM is good however the actual results it gets can be minimal. If the patient will follow their exercise routine that was set forth by their rehabilitation professional the results will just as good if not better.
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