Revision for coronal malalignment will improve functional outcome up to 5 years postoperatively.

Abstract

Revision of a total knee arthroplasty (TKA) for the diagnosis of malalignment is widely performed. However, very little is known about the functional outcome in revision TKA surgery for malalignment. The aim of this study was to assess the functional outcome and to identify factors influencing the functional outcome of patients who have had a revision of a TKA for the diagnosis of malalignment at 5 years follow-up. All patients with a revision of a TKA for malalignment as the primary reason were selected from a prospective database. The diagnosis of symptomatic malalignment was made by the surgeon and quantified by radiologic examination. Functional outcome was scored by the functional score of the Knee Society Clinical Rating System (fKSS) at 0, 12, 24 and 60 months. Multiple imputation for missing data and multivariable analysis were performed to identify factors influencing functional outcome. After selection, 105 patients (age: 65.1 ± 9.1 years, gender M:F 30:75) were eligible for outcome analysis. Functional outcome significantly improved from the preoperative (fKSS: 44.1 ± 22.0) to 5 years postoperative (64.7 ± 24.0, p < 0.001) time frames. Higher degree of coronal deviation, younger age and lower preoperative KSS were found to be strongest positive influencing factors for the change in fKSS. Revision of TKA for malalignment appears to be an effective treatment to improve functional outcome up to 5 years postoperatively. Higher degree of coronal deviation, younger age and lower preoperative KSS are the strongest contributing factors for functional improvement. Level III; Therapeutic prospective cohort study.