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Post-TKA outcomes worse in patients with tibial and femoral deformity
Pain and functional outcomes after total knee arthroplasty (TKA) can be predicted by the location of a patient’s knee deformity on either the femur or tibia, according to this study.
“The location of post-traumatic deformity and compromise of the soft-tissue envelope influence the pain and functional outcomes of total knee arthroplasty for post-traumatic arthritis,” David W. Shearer, MD, MPH, and colleagues wrote in the abstract. “Specifically, isolated articular deformities have the largest improvement in pain and function while patients with combined tibial and femoral deformities as well as patients with soft-tissue compromise experience poor outcomes.”
Preoperatively and at 52 postoperative months, mean, Shearer and colleagues analyzed the Knee Society Scores (KSS) of 46 patients who underwent TKA, which improved from 30 points to 57 points in all the patients. Their preoperative function scores of 39 points improved to 46 points postoperatively.
However, patients with combined deformities performed worse and needed semi-constrained components and custom offset stems more often than patients with isolated knee deformity.
The researchers noted patients aged 50 years or less tended to have worse scores, but this was not statistically significant, and age and gender were not predictive of pre- or postoperative KSS or functional results.
Disclosure: The authors have no relevant financial disclosures.