Evaluation and Analysis of Outcomes of Unicondylar Knee Arthroplasty in Unicompartmental Knee Osteoarthritis.

Background Recent increased interest in less invasive surgical techniques has led to a concurrent resurgence in unicompartmental knee arthroplasty (UKA). UKA is an effective treatment for end-stage, symptomatic unicompartmental osteoarthritis (OA) of the knee. Both clinical outcome and kinematic studies have indicated that successful UKA functions closer to a normal knee. UKA aims to restore the natural alignment of the limb, the original ligament tension, and the joint line. The aim of this study is to evaluate and analyze the outcomes of unicondylar knee arthroplasty performed in patients with unicompartmental OA of the knee joint. Methods This is a prospective study that includes 20 patients of unicompartmental OA knee managed with UKA in the Department of Orthopaedics, Tirunelveli Medical College, Tirunelveli, India. The implant used was JOURNEY UNI unicompartmental knee prosthesis (Smith & Nephew, Watford, England). All patients were evaluated radiologically before and after surgery. Clinical outcome was determined by using the Knee Society Scoring System (KSS) over a two-year follow-up period. Results According to the KSS, the average pre-operative score of 107.25 (95-119) increased to 189.30 (175-205) in the post-operative period. No intra-operative complications were noted in our study. One patient (5%) showed delayed wound healing and healed after a course of antibiotics. There were no additional procedures or revisions for implant-related complications or the occurrence of fractures. Conclusions This prospective study concludes that a fixed-bearing UKA provides an effective solution in treating medial compartment OA of the knee. The fixed-bearing prosthesis has the advantage that it restores the tibial and femoral joint line to the native level and at the same time corrects to previous limb alignment. This procedure also ensures effective functional recovery and pain relief. No major intraoperative or post-operative complications were observed.