UKA prosthesis yielded promising midterm results for OA

Jonathan M. Vigdorchik, MD

I read with great interest the article by Christian Ries, MD, and colleagues out of University Hospital of Cologne Germany regarding Mid-Term Clinical Outcome and Reconstruction of Posterior Tibial Slope after UKA.

UKA has proven over the years to be an excellent procedure and a true resurfacing of the knee joint preserving the native kinematics. However, the outcomes of this procedure are very technique dependent and extremely sensitive to minor variations. This study looked at restoring physiologic varus by undercorrecting the full extent of the deformity and also at recreating the native posterior tibial slope. Clinical outcomes were excellent in the majority of patients with a 90.5% survivorship at 48 months, although 7% were revised to total knee arthroplasty. In orthopedic surgery, the more closely we recreate the natural anatomy, the quicker recovery and better outcomes for our patients. Surgeons are able to achieve these goals using conventional techniques, but robotics and computer technology have really helped fine-tune the execution of surgical plans with the additional benefit of increasing longevity and lowering failure rates, and this is especially the case with a technically challenging operation such as a UKA. This study proves to me the importance of recreating the native anatomy of the knee to restore more natural kinematics, and supports the literature and my belief that using robotics or computer-assisted technology will continue to advance the field of total joint arthroplasty, increase patient satisfaction, and lead to more natural feeling joint replacements.