Abstract
Aims: Analyze the long-term survival of cementless meniscal bearing total knee arthroplasty (TKA). Methods: Two hundred and thirty-two consecutive cementless primary meniscal bearing Low Contact Stress TKA were performed on 203 patients in our institution from November 1988 to June 1996. The diagnosis was osteoarthritis in 192 knees (83%) and rheumatoid arthritis in 40 cases (17%). Mean age at surgery was 66.5 years (range:16–90). Cruciate retaining prosthesis was implanted in 81% and a cruciate sacrificing prosthesis in 19%. Twenty patients died and ten patients (4,3%) were lost to follow-up. The remaining 202 knees (87%) had an average follow-up of 116.7 months (range:70–165). Survival analysis was done using as end point revision surgery or recommended revision. Results: Twenty-six TKAs (11.2%) required revision: infection (3), patelar failure (2), tibial/femoral loosening (2) and polyethylene failure (19). Age, gender, diagnosis and sacrificing cruciate ligaments were not related with prosthesis failure (p> 0.05). The Kaplan-Meier survival analysis showed a mean of 155 months (95%CI:150–159). The life table survival estimate at 10 years was 90.4% (85–95). The cumulative survival rate for patellar failure was 99% (98–100), for mechanical loosening 99% (98–100) and 91.3% (87–96) for polyethylene failure. The Log Rank Test was significant for poliethylene failure (p=0.0005). Conclusions: In our experience overall long-term survival of cementless meniscal bearing TKAwas acceptable. Mobile bearing knee prosthesis satisfactorily resolved problems related with patellar failure or tibial/femoral loosening. Polyethylene failure continues to be the main problem in long-term survival of knee prosthesis.
Theses abstracts were prepared by Professor Dr. Frantz Langlais. Correspondence should be addressed to him at EFORT Central Office, Freihofstrasse 22, CH-8700 Küsnacht, Switzerland.
