Results of unicondylar knee arthroplasty

Abstract

Background. Partial knee replacement (PKR) becomes a more and more frequent method among the other methods of surgical treatment of early stages of medial knee osteoarthritis. The relevance and increasing number of PKR are confirmed by data from various national registers. The purpose of the research was to study the early functional results of PKR and to analyze the complications at various stages of the postoperative period. The assessment of the patient’s functional state according to the KSS and WOMAC was calculated as a percentage of the maximum possible sum of points for each of the scales. Material and methods. The results of 29 PKR during the period from 2016 to 2021 were analyzed. Assessment of knee function and quality of life of patients was performed according to the questionnaires Knee Scoring System (KSS), Western Ontario and McMaster Universities Arthritis Index (WOMAC), which were used preoperatively and then in 3, 6, 9, 12, 18 months after surgery. Results. The most significant improvement in quality of life and values of the functional results were observed in 3 and 18 months after surgery. After replacement it was established the best functional outcome scales of KSS (79.4%, p=0.03); WOMAC (27.1%, p = 0.02) compared with the functional results before surgery (32.3 and 73.6%, respectively). A negative correlation was revealed between body mass index and functional outcome (R = –0.7, p = 0.02). Conclusions. PKR allowed us to achieve an improvement in the quality of life and functional results already in the early postoperative period (from 3 to 18 months after the operation). The improvement of the operating technique and the analysis of errors will improve the results of PKR and minimize the number of complications.