Purpose

To identify the incidence and reasons for revision of the Oxford prosthesis (OXF) in New Zealand.

Excessive under correction of varus deformity may lead to early failure and overcorrection may cause progressive degeneration of the lateral compartment following medial unicompartmental knee arthroplasty (UKA). However, what influences the postoperative limb alignment in UKA is still not clear. This study aimed to evaluate postoperative limb alignment in minimally-invasive Oxford medial UKAs and the influence of factors such as preoperative limb alignment, insert thickness, age, BMI, gender and surgeon's experience on postoperative limb alignment. Clinical and radiographic data of 122 consecutive minimally-invasive Oxford phase 3 medial unicompartmental knee arthroplasties (UKAs) performed in 109 patients by a single surgeon was analysed. Ninety-four limbs had a preoperative hip-knee-ankle (HKA) angle between 170°-180° and 28 limbs (23%) had a preoperative hip-knee-ankle (HKA) angle <170°. The mean preoperative HKA angle of 172.6±3.1° changed to 177.1±2.8° postoperatively. For a surgical goal of achieving 3° varus limb alignment (HKA angle=177°) postoperatively, 25% of limbs had an HKA angle >3° of 177° and 11% of limbs were left overcorrected (>180°). Preoperative HKA angle had a strong correlation (r=0.53) with postoperative HKA angle whereas insert thickness, age, BMI, gender and surgeon's experience had no influence on the postoperative limb alignment. Minimally invasive Oxford phase 3 UKA can restore the limb alignment within acceptable limits in majority of cases. Preoperative limb alignment may be the only factor which influences postoperative alignment in minimally-invasive Oxford medial UKAs. Although the degree of correction achieved postoperatively from the preoperative deformity was greater in limbs with more severe preoperative varus deformity, these knees tend to remain in more varus or under corrected postoperatively. Overcorrection was more in knees with lesser preoperative deformity. Hence enough bone may need to be resected from the tibia in knees with lesser preoperative deformity to avoid overcorrection whereas limbs with large preoperative varus deformities may remain under corrected

Introduction. Unicompartmental knee arthroplasty (UKA) is a successful procedure for medial compartment osteoarthritis (OA). Recent studies using the same implant report a revision rate of 2.9%. Other centers have reported revision rates as high as 10.3%. The purpose of this study was to retrospectively review the clinical results of Oxford Phase 3 UKA's performed in the setting of isolated medial compartment OA and to compare our results to the previous mid-term studies. Our secondary goal was to determine reasons for revision and evaluate selected independent predictors of failure. Methods. A retrospective review of 465 Oxford Phase 3 medial UKA's performed on 386 patients (222 female; 164 male) with isolated medial compartment OA. The average age at surgery was 69.5 years (40–88). Outcome measures included: Knee Society Scores(KSS), Oxford Knee Scores(OKS), SF-12, WOMAC, revision rates, and patient satisfaction. We evaluated independently predictors of failure including: gender, body mass index(BMI), number of previous surgeries, implant sizes, cement technique (simultaneous vs staged), cement type. Revision rates based upon the polyethylene thickness (defined as thin 3–4 mm; medium 5–6 mm; thick 7–9 mm). The need for stems and augments and the degree of constraint required at revision to a total knee arthroplasty (TKA) were evaluated. Results. At a mean follow-up of 60.7 months (11–114) OKS improved from 21 to 37 points (p<.05). Latest SF-12 score was 43.8 points (16.8–64.7 points; SD, 10.5) and WOMAC was 80 points (23–100 points; SD, 18). The overall revision rate was 6.9% (32/465 knees). Mean time to revision in 25 knees was 34.5 months (7–96), and revision was most commonly performed for lateral compartment OA (10). Eight knees were revised for tibial loosening, femoral loosening (6), and PCL failure (1). Revision implants included posterior stabilized in 13 knees (52%), cruciate retaining in 9 knees (36%), and cruciate substituting/dished in 3 knees (12%). Five revisions (20%) required tibial augments and 2(8%) had cemented tibial stems. The mean revision polyethylene thickness was 12 mm (range, 9–19 mm) and one knee required a constrained polyethylene. Three knees are pending revision to TKA. Four knees underwent poly exchange for bearing dislocation and 3 knees had further arthroscopic procedures. Eighty-four percent of the patella were resurfaced at revision. Three quarters (76%) of the patients were extremely or very satisfied with their surgery. Over 90% would have had their surgeries again. Gender, BMI, number of previous surgeries, femoral or tibial sizing, poly thickness, cementing technique or type did not predict revision, the need for constraint, or the need for stems or augments. Conclusion. Our revision rate of 6.9% was comparable to other midterm studies from independent centers but not as low as recently reported results from Oxford. Progression to lateral compartment OA was the most common reason for revision. We could not find any independent predictors of failures in this group of 465 knees

Aims. Spontaneous osteonecrosis of the knee (SONK) mainly affects the medial femoral condyle, would be a good indication for UKA. The primary aim of this study was to assess the clinical, functional and radiographic outcomes at middle to long-term follow-up, of a consecutive series of fifty UKA used for the treatment of SONK. The secondary aim was to assess the volume of necrotic bone and determine if this influenced the outcome. Patients and Methods. We reviewed 50 knees who were treated for SONK. Patients included ten males and 38 females. The mean age was 73 years (range, 57 to 83 years). The mean height and body weight were, respectively 153 cm (141 ∼171 cm) and 57 kg (35 ∼75kg). All had been operated on using the Oxford mobile-bearing UKA (Zimmer-Biomet, Swindon, United Kingdom) with cement fixation. The mean follow-up period was 8.4 years (range, 4 to 15years). We measured the size (width, length and depth) and the volume to be estimated (width x length x depth) of the necrotic bone mass using MRI in T1-weighted images. The clinical results were evaluated using the Knee Society Scoring System (KSS) and Oxford Knee Score (OKS). The flexion angle of the knee was evaluated using lateral X-ray images in maximum flexion. Results. There were no implant failures, but there were 4 deaths (from causes unrelated to UKA) mean 6.6 years after surgery(5∼8), 3 cases were lost mean 3.3 years after surgery(2∼5). The mean size of the necrotic lesion were 17.2mm (14.7∼25.3) in width, 28.2mm (6.2∼38.3) in length and 11.3mm (3.2∼14.3) in depth. The mean volume of it was calculated to be approximate 5.4 cm. 3. (0.7∼11.1). The mean flexion of the knee, KSS Knee Score, Function Score and OKS increased from a preoperative 128.7 degrees (110 ∼ 140 degrees) to 137.5 degrees (110 ∼ 153 degrees), 52.3 (30 ∼ 64) to 91.3 (87 ∼ 100), 39.7 (15∼ 55) to 90.2 (65 ∼ 100) and 21.6 (12∼ 28) to 40.2 (34∼ 48), respectively at the latest follow-up. At last follow-up all patients had good or excellent OKS. Conclusions. There was a 100% survival rate of the Oxford Phase 3 UKA for SONK in the middle to long-term (up to 15 years after surgery) in this independent study. All patients had good/excellent results at last follow-up and there were no reoperations or major complications. This suggests that Oxford mobile-bearing UKA is a good and definitive treatment for medial femoral SONK, whatever the size of the lesion

Introduction. Patient Specific Instrumentation (PSI) has the potential to allow surgeons to perform procedures more accurately, at lower cost and faster than conventional instrumentation. However, studies using PSI have failed to convincingly demonstrate any of these benefits clinically. The influence of guide design on the accuracy of placement of PSI has received no attention within the literature. Our experience has suggested that surgeons gain greater benefit from PSI when undertaking procedures they are less familiar with. Lateral unicompartmental knee replacement (UKR) is relatively infrequently performed and may be an example of an operation for which PSI would be of benefit. We aimed to investigate the impact on accuracy of PSI with respect to the area of contact, the nature of the contact (smooth or studded guide surfaces) and the effect of increasing the number of contact points in different planes. Method. A standard anatomy tibial Sawbone was selected for use in the study and a computed tomography scan obtained to facilitate the production of PSI. Nylon PSI guides were printed on the basis of a lateral UKR plan devised by an orthopaedic surgeon. A control PSI guide with similar dimensions to the cutting block of the Oxford Phase 3 UKR tibial guide was produced, contoured to the anterior tibial surface with multiple studs on the tibial contact surface. Variants of this guide were designed to assess the impact of design features on accuracy. These were: a studded guide with a 40% reduction in tibial contact area, a non-studded version of the control guide, the control guide with a shim to provide articular contact, a guide with an extension to allow distal referencing at the ankle and a guide with a distal extension and an articular shim. All guides were designed with an appendage that facilitated direct attachment to a navigation machine (figure 1). 36 volunteers were asked to place each guide on the tibia with reference to a 3D model of the operative plan. The order of placement was varied using a counterbalanced latin square design to limit the impact of the learning effect. The navigation machine recorded deviations from the plan in respect of proximal-distal and medial-lateral translations as well as rotation around all three axes. Statistical analysis was performed on the compound translational and rotational errors for each guide using ANOVA with Bonferroni correction with statistical significance at p<0.05. Results. Contact points in greater than one plane led to a trend for increasing accuracy and precision of PSI guide placement with respect to rotational alignment, this achieved statistical significance relative to the control guide only with the guide that included articular and distal contact points (figure 2). No significant differences were found with respect to translation. Changes in contact area within the same plane and the use of smooth or studded contact points made no significant difference to accuracy. Conclusion. PSI guide design significantly impacts on accuracy of placement. PSI guides for UKR should endeavour to include widely separated reference points in different planes to maximise rotational accuracy

Background. In this study, we investigated the long-term clinical results and survivorship of minimally invasive unicompartmental knee arthroplasty (UKA) by collecting cases that have been implanted for >10 years ago. Methods. Medial UKA on 180 cases in 142 patients was performed over a period of 1 year after the first introduction of minimally invasive UKA from January 2002 to December 2002. Among these, 166 cases in 128 patients who underwent Oxford phase 3 medial UKA using the minimally invasive surgery, with the exclusion of 14 cases including 10 cases of follow-up loss and 4 cases of death, were selected as the subject. The mean age of the patients at the time of surgery was 61 years, and the duration of the follow-up was minimum 10 years. All the preoperative diagnosis was osteoarthritis of the knee joint. Clinical and radiographic assessments were measured by the Knee Society clinical rating system, and the survival analysis was confirmed by the Kaplan–Meier method with 95% confidence interval (CI). Results. The mean Knee Society knee and function scores improved significantly from 53.8 points (25 to 70) and 56.1 points (35 to 80) preoperatively to 85.4 points (58 to100) and 80.5 points (50 to 100) at 10-year follow-up, respectively(P<0.001). The mean range of the motion of the knee joint recovered from 128.6° (110° to 135°) to 132.5o (105o to 135o) (P<0.001), and the tibiofemoral angle changed from the mean 0.2° of varus (7o of varus to 7o of valgus) to 4.6° of valgus (2° of varus to 11° of valgus) under the weight-bearing X-ray (P<0.001). Failures following the UKA occurred in 16 cases in 14 patients out of a total of 166 cases (9.6%), and the mean time of the occurrence of the failure was 6.2 years after the surgery. The causes of the failure included 7 cases of simple dislocation of mobile bearing, 4 cases of loosening of implant, 1 case of dislocation of mobile bearing accompanied by loosening of implant, and 1 case of dislocation of mobile bearing accompanied by the rupture of the medial collateral ligament (MCL). Moreover, there was 1 case of fracture of polyethylene bearing, 1 case of deep infection and 1 case of failure because of medial tibial condylar fracture. Of the total of 16 cases of failures, 11 cases (69%) were treated with revision total knee arthroplasty (TKA), whereas 5 cases (31%) were treated with a simple change of mobile bearing. The 10-year survival rate was 90.5% (95% CI, 85.9 to 95.0) when failure was defined as all the reoperations, whereas the 10-year survival rate was 93.4% (95% CI, 89.6 to 97.1) when the cases in which only revision TKA was defined as failure. Conclusions. The results of this study show outstanding functions of the knee joint and satisfactory 10-year survival rate after minimally invasive UKA. Therefore, minimally invasive UKA could be a useful method in the treatment of osteoarthritis in one compartment of knee joint