Abstract
Aim of this study was to compare the postoperative range of motion of three types of total knee replacements.
They were 72 posterior cruciate ligament retaining knee prostheses (group I), 61 postero-stabilized (group II), 52 ultracongruent plates (group III). Inclusion criteria were primary arthritis with varus deformity inferior to 15 degrees (°), no previous surgery on the knee, body mass index inferior to 35, preoperative flexion superior to 110°. All prostheses were performed with the same ancillary with one unique surgeon (DH). Recovery and analgesia protocols were similar in the three groups. Mobility was measured using a goniometer.
Continuous data were tested for normal distribution using Kolmogorov-Smirnov test. Normally distributed data were analyzed with two tailed t-tests, whereas non-parametric data were analyzed with Mann-Whitney U test. Statistical significance was set at p < 0.05.
At 2 years follow-up, the group I demonstrated a mean flexion of 121.8° in preoperative period and 110.3° in postoperative period. They were respectively of 121.3 and 122.2° in the group II. Regarding group III, they were 121.6 °preoperatively and 118.4° postoperatively.
Results were significant (p< 0.05) between groups I and II, and groups I and III.
No statistic correlation was found between need of mobilisation under general anesthesia (p> 0.05), flexum (p> 0.05), knee score (p> 0.05), patient satisfaction depending on type of prostheses (p> 0.05).
Posterior cruciate ligament removal tends to offer a best postoperative flexion without significant influence on the knee score or patient satisfaction.
Correspondence should be addressed to: EFORT Central Office, Technoparkstrasse 1, CH – 8005 Zürich, Switzerland. Email: office@efort.org
