TEN-YEAR SURVIVORSHIP OF THE MILLER-GALANTE UNICOMPARTMENTAL KNEE ARTHROPLASTY

Abstract

This study reports the survivorship free of revision or radiographic loosening of one hundred and eight consecutive cemented Miller-Galante unicompartmental knee arthroplasties at a mean ten-year follow-up.

The purpose of this study was to report our experience with the Miller-Galante (MG) unicompartmental knee arthroplasty (UKA) at a mean ten-year follow-up in order to determine if this procedure can provide durable long-term clinical results.

One hundred and eight cemented MG-UKAs in eighty-two patients performed by two surgeons between 1988 and 1997 were reviewed. There were one hundred and six medial and two lateral MG-UKAs performed. Mean age at surgery was sixty-seven years (range, thirty-nine to eighty-seven). There were forty-four males and thirty-eight females. Mean follow-up was ten years (range, five to thirteen). A Kaplan-Meier survivorship analysis using an end-point of revision surgery or radiographic loosening was employed to determine probability of survival at five and ten years.

Of the eighty-two patients (one hundred and eight knees), nine patients (eleven knees) died and one patient (two knees) was lost to follow-up. Eleven patients (eleven knees) were revised at a mean of four years (range, one to nine), and one patient demonstrated radiographic loosening of the tibial component at seven years. Of the eleven revisions, only two required use of revision components. Mean pre-operative and final follow-up Knee Society clinical and functional scores were forty-seven and fifty-three, and ninety and seventy-nine points, respectively. Kaplan-Meier survivorship analysis revealed a probability of survival free of revision or radiographic loosening of 93% at five years and 88% at ten years.

The results of this study demonstrate that the MG-UKA can provide reliable pain relief and restoration of function in selected patients. Our experience has shown that the survivorship of the MG-UKA approaches that of tricompartmental knee arthroplasty, and suggests that UKA may offer the advantage of ease of revision.