ABSTRACT
BACKGROUND: In the treatment of unicompartmental knee osteoarthritis, unicompartmental knee arthroplasty has the advantages of less blood loss, less trauma, quick recovery, maximum retention of bone mass, low cost, fewer complications and higher patient satisfaction. However, for the mobile bearing and the fixed bearing, the choice of single condylar prosthesis is till controversial.OBJECTIVE: To investigate the difference of LINK fixed-bearing and Oxford mobile-bearing unicompartment arthroplasty in relieving knee joint pain, reconstruction of the knee joint function, correct the knee joint deformity for medial unicompartment knee osteoarthritis, thus providing the basis for selecting a better prosthesis.METHODS: Ninety patients with medial unicompartment knee osteoarthritis undergoing unicompartmental knee arthroplasty in the Department of Joint Surgery, Guangdong Provincial Hospital of TCM from December 2014 to June 2016 were analyzed retrospectively, followed by allotted into Oxford mobile-bearing and LINK fixed-bearing groups (n=45 per group). The preoperative and postoperative pain level, range of motion of the knee, complications, and limb alignment were assessed. The range of motion and function of the knee were evaluated by Knee Society Score system.RESULTS AND CONCLUSION: (1) The two kinds of prosthesises both could obtain good clinical effectiveness. (2)There was no significant difference in the Knee Society Score, Visual Analogue Scale scores, or the range of motion of the knee between two groups (P > 0.05). (3) No complications such as deep vein thrombosis, prosthesis loosening and joint revision were found in both groups. (4) The correction of limb alignment showed significant difference between two groups (P < 0.05). The corrective femorotibial angle in the Oxford mobile-bearing group was larger than that in the LINK fixed-bearing group. (5) These findings manifest that under the precondition of strictly mastering the indications, both fixed-bearing and Oxford mobile-bearing unicompartment arthroplasties can effectively relieve the pain and improve the function of knee joint in the treatment of unicompartmental knee osteoarthritis. Oxford mobile-bearing prosthesis exhibits advantage in restoring the limb alignment; the movable platform lower limb alignment correction angle is often bigger than fixed platform correction angle, but may accelerate the lateral cartilage wear.