Effectiveness of Patellar Replacementin Total Knee Arthroplasty : Randomized, Prospective Study using Simultaneous Bilateral Total Knee Arthroplasty

Woo, Young Kyun; Lee, Hwa Sung; Kim, Ju Young

Abstract

PURPOSE: This study evaluated the clinical and radiological results of a randomized clinical trial of patella resurfacing.
MATERIALS AND METHODS
A blinded, prospective study was carried out for 20 patients who underwent bilateral TKA with one patellar side being resurfaced from Jan. 2002 to Jun. 2003. The clinical results were assessed using the knee society clinical rating system, patellar score and patient-satisfaction score. Radiologically, patellofemoral congruency was assessed by measuring the patellar displacement in the skyline view.
RESULTS
There were no significant differences between the resurfaced and non-resurfaced knees with respect to the overall knee society knee scores or the patellar scores. In the patient-satisfaction scale, 2 out of 4 knees with anterior pain postoperatively were unsatisfactory to the patients. The average patellar congruency in the non-resurfacing/resurfacing group was 98.8%/98%.
CONCLUSION
The clinical and radiological results after TKA were not associated with patellar resurfacing. It appears that a variety of factors such as preoperative anterior knee pain, pathological lesion and alignment of patella, and the surgical technique are related to the postoperative results.