Early Clinical Outcomes of a New Posteriorly Stabilized Total Knee Arthroplasty Prosthesis: Comparisons with Two Established Prostheses.

Purpose: We sought to determine whether early clinical performance of new posterior stabilized (PS) knee system, the Vega-PS (Aesculap), is better than that of two established total knee arthroplasty (TKA) prostheses, the E.motion-PS (Aesculap) and the Genesis II (Smith & Nephew) in terms of functional outcomes, patient satisfaction, and incidence of adverse events. Materials and Methods: We compared the clinical outcomes of 206 consecutive TKAs using Vega-PS with those of 205 TKAs using E.motion-PS and 216 TKAs using Genesis II at 2 years of follow-up. Results: Overall, the knees with the Vega-PS had better functional outcome scores than the knees with the E.motion-PS, but had similar outcome scores to the knees with the Genesis II, as evident from the American Knee Society knee score (94.2 vs. 92.5 vs. 93.2), Western Ontario McMaster Universities Osteoarthritis (WOMAC) stiffness index (1.8 vs. 2.3 vs. 2.0), WOMAC function index (11.8 vs. 16.8 vs. 18.5), Short Form 36 (SF-36) physical component summary score (41.9 vs. 39.3 vs. 41.6), and SF-36 mental component summary score (50.0 vs. 45.8 vs. 46.9). Patient satisfaction was higher in the Vega-PS and Genesis II groups than the E.motion-PS group. No notable group differences were found in terms of the incidence of adverse events. Conclusions: The Vega-PS, a newly developed PS fixed bearing prosthesis, had comparable or superior clinical performance in comparison with the two established fixed or mobile bearing PS prostheses.

Can Serum Albumin Level and Total Lymphocyte Count be Surrogates for Malnutrition to Predict Wound Complications After Total Knee Arthroplasty?

BACKGROUND: Although the serum albumin level and total lymphocyte count (TLC) have been reported as valid and reliable markers for defining malnutrition, their cutoff levels and predictive values for wound complications in patients undergoing total knee arthroplasty (TKA) remain questionable. METHODS: A total of 3169 TKAs performed between April 2003 and December 2013 were retrospectively reviewed. We determined the prevalence of malnutrition on applying different definitions, with various cutoff values of serum albumin and TLC and analyzed the variations in outcome. The differences between groups with and without malnutrition in terms of functional outcome and complications were determined using Student's t test and analysis of variance. Multivariate logistic regression analysis was conducted to identify the independent risk factors. RESULTS: Among all the patients (N = 3169), the serum albumin level and TLC varied widely, with means of 4.1 g/dL and 2189 cells/mm(3), respectively. The prevalence of malnutrition (21%) as per the conventional definition (serum albumin level <3.5 g/dL or a serum TLC <1500 cells/mm(3)) dropped to only 1.6% when malnutrition was defined as serum albumin <3.5 g/dL "and" TLC <1500/mm(3), indicating a very small overlap between the 2 markers. No differences were observed between 2 groups in functional outcomes and incidence of wound complications. CONCLUSION: Our findings call into question the values of serum albumin level and TLC as a surrogate of malnutrition for predicting wound complications after TKA.

A prospective comparative study of clinical and functional outcomes between anatomic double bundle and single bundle hamstring grafts for arthroscopic anterior cruciate ligament reconstruction.

BACKGROUND: Despite a number of studies comparing postoperative stability and function after anatomic single bundle and double bundle anterior cruciate ligament reconstruction, it remains unclear whether double bundle reconstruction has better functional outcome than single bundle anterior cruciate ligament reconstruction. PURPOSE: To compare the subjective functional outcome as well as clinical stability in patients treated with either anatomic single bundle or anatomic double bundle anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) reconstruction. We hypothesized that there would be no difference in the postoperative functional outcome and clinical stability between anatomical double bundle anterior cruciate ligament reconstructions when compared to single bundle anterior cruciate ligament reconstructions. METHODS: We prospectively followed 40 patients out of which, 20 patients were operated for anatomic single bundle ACL reconstruction and other 20 patients underwent anatomic double bundle ACL reconstruction. Patient evaluation using the laxity tests and outcome scales was done preoperatively and at 12, 24 and 48 months after the surgery. Clinical stability was assessed by Lachman test, Pivot shift test and Delhi active test. Functional outcome was assessed by International Knee Documentation Committee (IKDC), Lysholm and Modified Cincinnati scores. Patients in both groups were evaluated at regular intervals for a minimum period of 48 months (mean 51 months, range 48-56 months). RESULTS: For all subjective scores, double bundle group patients reported statistically significant higher scores compared to single bundle group patients. Graded stability results of the Lachman, and Pivot shift tests were significantly higher in the anatomically reconstructed double bundle patient group. CONCLUSION: We suggest that functional outcome and clinical stability may be better with anatomical double bundle anterior cruciate ligament reconstruction as compared to anatomical single bundle anterior cruciate ligament reconstruction.