Perioperative and frailty outcomes after total knee arthroplasty, an observational study

Abstract

Abstract Background Total knee arthroplasty is a common procedure with an increasing demand and there is an increasing proportion of aged people who go through total knee arthroplasty. Frailty is associated with adverse perioperative outcomes in the aged. This report seeks to understand the associations of preoperative frailty status and comorbid conditions in relation to their clinical and healthcare outcomes after total knee arthroplasty. It also examines if frailty can be improved after surgical treatment of osteoarthritis. Methods Retrospective cohort study, outcomes assessed over 2 years. Frailty defined by the Clinical Frailty Score. Results 96 patient records were assessed, of which 13 (13.5%) patients were robust and 83 (86.5%) patients were pre-frail or frail. 2 years after total knee replacement, the number of robust patients increased to 58 (61.1%) patients showing a reversal of frailty in 47.6% of patients. Conclusions We report that total knee arthroplasty in prefrail and frail patients is a safe procedure that leads to improvement with subsequent reversal of frailty in 47.6% of patients two years after operation.