Knee News

ORLANDO — Eliminating knee swelling with elevation of the leg or a directed exercise program is a first step to managing knee stiff in a patient after total knee arthroplasty. After that, manipulation under anesthesia may be considered, according to a presenter at the Current Concepts in Joint Replacement Winter Meeting.

The increasing number of elderly people who wish to maintain mobility throughout their lives keeps challenging the health care system. In particular, the orthopaedic and traumatology community now faces more cases of bone fragility, sarcopenia and wear of the joints. In the knee joint, arthroplasty replaces diseased or damaged weight-bearing surfaces to relieve pain or help individuals cope with disability.

Results published in the Journal of Bone and Joint Surgery showed an estimated 5-year survival rate of 94.7% for patients with advanced-stage focal osteonecrosis of the medial femoral condyle who underwent unicompartmental arthroplasty.

Based on cost-related length of stay and discharge disposition in patients who had coexisting hip arthritis and knee arthritis, results of a recently published study do not show a preference for total hip arthroplasty or total knee arthroplasty as the first procedure performed.

The FDA announced it approved two applications for the first generic versions of apixaban tablets to reduce risk for stroke and systemic embolism in patients with nonvalvular atrial fibrillation.

There was no difference in venous thromboembolism and wound drainage rates in a comparison of chemoprophylactic agents used in low-risk patients who underwent revision compared with primary total joint arthroplasty, according to study results.

ORLANDO — Treatment with cefazolin may be safe in patients who report a penicillin allergy, may reduce the rate of infection and provide cost-savings in patients undergoing total joint replacement, according to a presenter at the Current Concepts in Joint Replacement Winter Meeting.

Patients who underwent unicompartmental knee arthroplasty undertaken with robotic assistance experienced excellent mid-term survivorship compared with patients whose surgery was performed manually, according to results presented at a meeting.

Published results showed reproducible and reliable measurement of the knee flexion gap with use of a device for this purpose among patients undergoing total knee arthroplasty.

ORLANDO — Reducing opioid use is an ongoing concern despite that oral opiates remain an important component of pain management for some patients who undergo total knee replacement, a presenter said at the Current Concepts in Joint Replacement Winter Meeting.