Distal Femoral Arthroplasty for Management of Periprosthetic Supracondylar Fractures of the Femur.

BACKROUND: The incidence of periprosthetic supracondylar femoral fractures is 0.3% to 2.5% after primary total knee arthroplasty.

METHODS

We performed a retrospective review 17 patients managed by distal femoral arthroplasty for periprosthetic supracondylar femoral fracture.

RESULTS

Mean age was 76 years (SD, 12.58). Mean follow-up was 33.9 months (SD, 10.57). Mean final range of motion was 2° of fixed flexion (SD, 5.3) and flexion of 90.2° (SD, 20.8). Mean final follow-up Knee Society Score was 67.15 (SD, 19.7). Mean Short Form-12 physical component was 36.57 (SD, 11.2), and mean Short Form-12 mental component was 42.64 (SD, 12.09). Four complications (4 patients) were managed successfully without revision of the prosthesis. Two failures (2 patients) required prosthesis revision: patellar maltracking with knee dislocation, and periprosthetric femoral fracture.

CONCLUSION

Distal femoral arthroplasty is a successful procedure. Complication rates are not insignificant, which is expected with the complexity of this clinical scenario.