Implantable shock absorber prolongs conversion to arthroplasty for patients with OA
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Key takeaways:
- An implantable shock absorber prolonged conversion to total knee arthroplasty at 2 years.
- The shock absorber is recommended for patients with subchondral insufficiency fractures and medial knee osteoarthritis.
For patients with subchondral insufficiency fractures of the knee and medial knee osteoarthritis, an implantable shock absorber was associated with avoidance of conversion to total knee arthroplasty at a minimum 2-year follow-up.
Researchers performed a retrospective case-control study of 21 patients (mean age, 51.3 years) who received an implantable shock absorber (ISA) for a subchondral insufficiency fracture of the knee (SIFK) and medial knee OA. They also analyzed a control cohort of 21 patients (mean age, 53.2 years) who did not receive an ISA. Outcome measure included SIFK scores, freedom-from-arthroplasty scores and survival rates, according to the study.
Overall, 100% of patients who received an ISA were free-from-arthroplasty at both 1- and 2-year follow-up, whereas 76% and 55% of patients in the control cohort were free-from-arthroplasty at 1 and 2 years, respectively. Among the control cohort, 38% of patients progressed to unicompartmental or TKA with a mean time-to-arthroplasty of 0.9 years.
Researchers noted SIFK scores were predictive of progression-to-arthroplasty within 2 years, as no patients with low-risk SIFK severity scores progressed to arthroplasty in either the ISA or control cohort.
“This study demonstrates the excellent effectiveness of the ISA in reducing progression-to-arthroplasty for at least 2 years after implantation, even in patients with very high risk for progression,” the researchers wrote.
“The ISA offers a useful load reduction approach that may effectively delay or supersede the need for arthroplasty in certain patients,” they concluded.
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