Introduction and Objective. An important subset of patients is dissatisfied after total joint arthroplasty (TJA) due to residual functional impairment. This study investigated the assessment of objectively measured step-up performance following TJA, to identify patients with poor functional improvement after surgery, and to predict residual functional impairment during early postoperative rehabilitation. Secondary, longitudinal changes of block step-up (BS) transfers were compared with functional changes of subjective patient reported outcome measures (PROMs) following TJA. Materials and Methods. Patients with end stage hip or knee osteoarthritis (n = 76, m/f = 44/32; mean age = 64.4 standard deviation 9.4 years) were measured preoperatively and 3 and 12 months postoperatively. PROMs were assessed using the Western Ontario and McMaster Universities Osteoarthritis Index (WOMAC) function subscore. BS transfers were assessed by wearable-derived measures of time. In our cohort, subgroups were formed based on either 1) WOMAC function score or 2) BS performance, isolating the worst performing quartile (impaired) of each measure from the better performing others (non-impaired). Subgroup comparisons were performed with the Man-Whitney-U test and Wilcoxon Signed rank test resp. Responsiveness was calculated by the effect size, correlations with Pearson's correlation coefficient. A regression analysis was conducted to investigate predictors of poor functional outcome. Results. WOMAC function scores were strongly correlated to WOMAC pain scores (Pearson's r=0.67–0.84) and moderately correlated to BS performance (Pearson's r = 0.31–0.54). Prior to surgery, no significant differences for WOMAC function scores and BS performance were found between the impaired and non-impaired subgroups. One year after TJA, our cohort performed significantly better at WOMAC and BS with largest effect size for the non-impaired subgroups (0.62 and 0.43 resp.) At 12 months postop, 56% of patients allocated to the impaired subgroup defined by WOMAC, represented the impaired subgroup defined by BS. Allocation to the impaired subgroup at 3 months postop, raised the odds for belonging to the impaired subgroup at 12 months for WOMAC with an odds ratio=19.14 (67%) and for BS with an odds ratio=4.41 (42%). Conclusions. Assessment of BS performance following TJA reveals residual functional impairment that is not captured by pain-dominated PROMs. Its additional use may help to early identify those patients at risk for a poor outcome

The aim of this study was to determine the outcomes and survivorship of the Triathlon knee replacement at 7 years after surgery. A cohort of 266 patients receiving a Triathlon knee replacement were assessed before surgery and at 3 months, 1 year, 2 years, 3 years, 5 years and 7 years post-operation. Patient-reported outcomes were assessed using the WOMAC, KOOS Knee-Related Quality of Life scale, Satisfaction Scale and questions on kneeling ability and whether they regretted having the operation. Data on survivorship was collected from self-report and medical records. At 7 years after surgery, 32 patients were deceased, and 17 patients were withdrawn. Of the 217 patients remaining in the study, 164 (76%) returned a completed study questionnaire. At 7 years after surgery, 92% of patients reported an improvement in their WOMAC Pain score greater than the minimally clinically important improvement (defined as improvement of ≥9 points from before surgery) and 82% reported this in their WOMAC Function score (defined as improvement of ≥12 points). Knee-related quality of life was good, with a mean score of 66.8 (SD 26.0) (0–100 scale, worst to best). A high percentage of patients (89%) were somewhat or very satisfied with their outcome at 7 years. Survivorship with revision as the endpoint was 96.4% (95% CI 93.2–98.1%) at 7 years post-operation. Five percent of patients regretted having their operation and 68% reported much difficulty or an inability to kneel. In conclusion, this study observed good long-term patient outcomes and survivorship of the Triathlon knee replacement

Background. Total knee replacement (TKR) is an effective operation for many patients, however approximately 20% of patients experience chronic pain and functional limitations in the months and years following their TKR. If modifiable pre-operative risk factors could be identified, this would allow patients to be targeted with individualised care to optimise these factors prior to surgery and potentially improve outcomes. Psychosocial factors have also been found to be important in predicting outcomes in the first 12 months after TKR, however their impact on long-term outcomes is unknown. This study aimed to identify pre-operative psychosocial predictors of patient-reported and clinician-assessed outcomes at one year and five years after primary TKR. Patients and methods. 266 patients listed for a Triathlon TKR because of osteoarthritis were recruited from pre-operative assessment clinics at one orthopaedic centre. Knee pain and function were assessed pre-operatively and at one and five years post-operative using the WOMAC Pain score, WOMAC Function score and American Knee Society Score (AKSS) Knee score. Pre-operative depression, anxiety, catastrophizing, pain self-efficacy and social support were assessed using patient-reported outcome measures. Statistical analyses were conducted using multiple linear regression and mixed effect linear regression, and adjusted for confounding variables. Results. Higher anxiety was a predictor of worse self-reported pain at one year post-operative. Higher anxiety and catastrophizing were predictive of worse self-reported function at one year post-operative. No psychosocial factors were associated with any outcome measures at five years post-operative. Analysis of change over time found that patients with higher pain self-efficacy had lower pre-operative pain and experienced less improvement in pain up to one year. Higher pain self-efficacy was associated with less improvement in the AKSS up to one year post-operative but more improvement between one and five years post-operative. Conclusion. This study found that pre-operative anxiety and catastrophizing influence outcomes at one year after TKR, highlighting that some patients may benefit from targeted psychological interventions to reduce these risk factors and improve outcomes. However, none of the psychosocial variables assessed were predictors of outcomes at five years post-operative, suggesting that the negative effects of anxiety and catastrophizing on outcome do not persist in the longer term

When performing total knee replacement (TKR), surgeons must select a size of tibial component tray that most closely matches the anatomy of the proximal tibia. As implants are available in a limited range of sizes, it may be necessary to slightly under or oversize the component. There are concerns overhang could lead to pain from irritation of soft tissues, and underhang could lead to subsidence and failure. 154 TKRs at 1- or 5-year follow up were reviewed prospectively. Oxford Knee Score (OKS), WOMAC and SF-12 was recorded along with pain scores. Scaled radiographs were reviewed and grouped into perfect sizing (78 TKRs, 50.6%), underhang in isolation (48 TKRs, 31.1%), minor overhang 1–3 mm (10 TKRs, 6.49%) or major overhang >3 mm (18 TKRs, 11.7%). There was no significant difference in the SF-12 (p=0.356), post-operative OKS (p=0.401) or WOMAC (p=0.466) score. For the OKS, there was no difference for the scores collected at 1 year (p=0.176) or at 5 years (p=0.883). Pre-operative OKS was well matched between the groups (p=0.152). There was no significant difference in the improvement in OKS from pre-operative scores (p=0.662). There was no significant difference in either the OKS or WOMAC pain scores (p=0.237 and 0.542 respectively). There was no significant association of medial overhang with?medial knee pain (p=1.000) or lateral overhang with lateral knee pain (p=0.569) when compared to the group of patients with a well sized tibial component. Our results suggest that tibial component overhang or underhang has no detrimental affect on outcome or pain scores. Surgeons should continue to select the tibial component that most closely fits the rim of the proximal tibia while accepting slight overhang if necessary due to the potential longer-term complications of subsidence and premature failure with an undersized tibial tray