Medium-term survivorship of the Oxford phase 3 unicompartmental knee replacement (UKR) has not yet been established in an Asian population. We prospectively evaluated the outcome of 400 phase 3 Oxford UKRs in 320 Korean patients with a mean age at the time of operation of 69 years (48 to 82). The mean follow-up was 5.2 years (1 to 10). Clinical and radiological assessment was carried out pre- and post-operatively. At five years, the mean Knee Society knee and functional scores had increased significantly from 56.2 (30 to 91) pre-operatively to 87.2 (59 to 98) (p = 0.034) and from 59.2 (30 to 93) to 88.3 (50 to 100) (p = 0.021), respectively. The Oxford knee score increased from a mean of 25.8 (12 to 39) pre-operatively to 39.8 (25 to 58) at five years (p = 0.038). The ten-year survival rate was 94% (95% confidence interval 90.1 to 98.0). A total of 14 UKRs (3.5%) required revision. The most common reason for revision was dislocation of the bearing in 12 (3%). Conversion to a total knee replacement was required in two patients who developed osteoarthritis of the lateral compartment. This is the largest published series of UKR in Korean patients. It shows that the mid-term results after a minimally invasive Oxford phase 3 UKR can yield satisfactory clinical and functional results in this group of patients

This prospective study describes the outcome of the first 1000 phase 3 Oxford medial unicompartmental knee replacements (UKRs) implanted using a minimally invasive surgical approach for the recommended indications by two surgeons and followed up independently. The mean follow-up was 5.6 years (1 to 11) with 547 knees having a minimum follow-up of five years. At five years their mean Oxford knee score was 41.3 (. sd. 7.2), the mean American Knee Society Objective Score 86.4 (. sd. 13.4), mean American Knee Society Functional Score 86.1 (. sd. 16.6), mean Tegner activity score 2.8 (. sd. 1.1). For the entire cohort, the mean maximum flexion was 130° at the time of final review. The incidence of implant-related re-operations was 2.9%; of these 29 re-operations two were revisions requiring revision knee replacement components with stems and wedges, 17 were conversions to a primary total knee replacement, six were open reductions for dislocation of the bearing, three were secondary lateral UKRs and one was revision of a tibial component. The most common reason for further surgical intervention was progression of arthritis in the lateral compartment (0.9%), followed by dislocation of the bearing (0.6%) and revision for unexplained pain (0.6%). If all implant-related re-operations are considered failures, the ten-year survival rate was 96% (95% confidence interval, 92.5 to 99.5). If only revisions requiring revision components are considered failures the ten-year survival rate is 99.8% (confidence interval 99 to 100). This is the largest published series of UKRs implanted through a minimally invasive surgical approach and with ten-year survival data. The survival rates are similar to those obtained with a standard open approach whereas the function is better. This demonstrates the effectiveness and safety of a minimally invasive surgical approach for implanting the Oxford UKR

Aims

Unicompartmental knee arthroplasty (UKA) is a bone-preserving treatment option for osteoarthritis localized to a single compartment in the knee. The success of the procedure is sensitive to patient selection and alignment errors. Robotic arm-assisted UKA provides technological assistance to intraoperative bony resection accuracy, which is thought to improve ligament balancing. This paper presents the five-year outcomes of a comparison between manual and robotically assisted UKAs.

Aims

The primary aim of this study was to determine the surgical team’s learning curve for introducing robotic-arm assisted unicompartmental knee arthroplasty (UKA) into routine surgical practice. The secondary objective was to compare accuracy of implant positioning in conventional jig-based UKA versus robotic-arm assisted UKA.

Aims

An evidence-based radiographic Decision Aid for meniscal-bearing unicompartmental knee arthroplasty (UKA) has been developed and this study investigates its performance at an independent centre.

The purpose of this study was to measure the radiological parameters of femoral component alignment of the Oxford Phase 3 unicompartmental knee replacement (UKR), and evaluate their effect on clinical outcome. Multiple regression analysis was used to examine the relative contributions of the radiological assessment of femoral component alignment in 189 consecutive UKRs performed by a single surgeon. The American Knee Society scores were compared between groups, defined as being within or outside recommended tolerances of the position of the femoral component. For the flexion/extension position 21 UKRs (11.1%) lay outside the recommended limits, and for posterior overhang of the femoral component nine (4.8%) lay outside the range. The pre-operative hip/knee/ankle (HKA) angle, narrowest canal distance from the distal femoral entry point of the alignment jig and coronal entry-point position had significant effects on the flexion/extension position. Pre-operative HKA angle had a significant influence on posterior overhang of the femoral component. However, there was no significant difference in American Knee Society scores relative to the position of the femoral component.

This prospective study describes the complications and survival of the first 688 Phase 3 Oxford medial unicompartmental knee replacements implanted using a minimally-invasive technique by two surgeons and followed up independently. None was lost to follow-up. We had carried out 132 of the procedures more than five years ago. The clinical assessment of 101 of these which were available for review at five years is also presented. Nine of the 688 knees were revised: four for infection, three for dislocation of the bearing and two for unexplained pain. A further seven knees (1%) required other procedures: four had a manipulation under anaesthesia, two an arthroscopy and one a debridement for superficial infection. The survival rate at seven years was 97.3% (95% confidence interval 5.3). At five years, 96% of the patients had a good or excellent American Knee Society score, the mean Oxford knee score was 39 and the mean flexion was 133°. This study demonstrates that the minimally-invasive Oxford unicompartmental knee replacement is a reliable and effective procedure

We reviewed the rate of revision of unicompartmental knee replacements (UKR) from the New Zealand Joint Registry between 1999 and 2008. There were 4284 UKRs, of which 236 required revision, 205 to a total knee replacement (U2T) and 31 to a further unicompartmental knee replacement (U2U). We used these data to establish whether the survival and functional outcome for revised UKRs were comparable with those of primary total knee replacement (TKR). The rate of revision for the U2T cohort was four times higher than that for a primary TKR (1.97 vs 0.48; p < 0.05). The mean Oxford Knee Score was also significantly worse in the U2T group than that of the primary TKR group (30.02 vs 37.16; p < 0.01). The rate of revision for conversion of a failed UKR to a further UKR (U2U cohort) was 13 times higher than that for a primary TKR.

The poor outcome of a UKR converted to a primary TKR compared with a primary TKR should contra-indicate the use of a UKR as a more conservative procedure in the younger patient.

We randomised 62 knees to receive either cemented or cementless versions of the Oxford unicompartmental knee replacement. The implants used in both arms of the study were similar, except that the cementless components were coated with porous titanium and hydroxyapatite. The tibial interfaces were studied with fluoroscopically-aligned radiographs.

At one year there was no difference in clinical outcome between the two groups. Narrow radiolucent lines were seen at the bone-implant interfaces in 75% of cemented tibial components. These were partial in 43%, and complete in 32%. In the cementless implants, partial radiolucencies were seen in 7% and complete radiolucencies in none. These differences are statistically significant (p < 0.0001) and imply satisfactory bone ingrowth into the cementless implants.