Study finds no difference between sexes in UKA outcome

Sebastien Lustig

COPENHAGEN, Denmark — Gender should not factor into the decision when determining whether to perform a unicompartmental knee arthroplasty, according to a study presented here.

“There are a few retrospective series of UKA [unicompartmental knee arthroplasty] which report poorer results in men, but there is no real prospective study specifically designed to address the variability of the outcome of UKA based on gender,” Sebastien Lustig, MD, PhD, said while sharing his team’s findings at the 12th EFORT Congress 2011 here.

Lustig’s study involved two groups of 40 patients of either sex, consecutively matched with preoperative clinical and radiological findings. Mean age at the time of operation was 71 years, Lustig reported.

Mean International Knee Society (IKS) scores were found to improve significantly in both groups postoperatively. Lustig was also able to report no significant differences between the two groups, with a mean preoperative flexion of 130· remaining the same at the last follow-up.

“After 6 years’ follow-up, there were no significant differences in terms of complications, flexion, postoperative axis, radiolucent lines and survival rates,” Lustig said.

The only significant difference Lustig was able to pinpoint between the two groups was that of component size, but this appeared to be related more to patient height than gender.

“Gender for us is not a predictor of outcome based on IKS score at 6 years’ follow-up,” Lustig said. “There is only a significant difference in implant size between males and females, with males having larger implants. Gender should not be considered when determining whether to perform UKA.”

Reference:

Lustig S, Barba N, Servien E, Fary C, et al. Gender does not bias medial unicompartmental arthroplasty outcome. Paper #791. Presented at the 12th EFORT Congress 2011. June 1-4. Copenhagen, Denmark.

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