Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2013 Oct;37(10):1917-23.
doi: 10.1007/s00264-013-1993-3. Epub 2013 Jul 9.

The natural history of a newly developed flexion contracture following primary total knee arthroplasty

Andres Anania  1 , Matthew P Abdel, Yuo-yu Lee, Stephen Lyman, Alejandro González Della Valle
Affiliations

The natural history of a newly developed flexion contracture following primary total knee arthroplasty

Andres Anania et al. Int Orthop. 2013 Oct.

Abstract

Purpose: We investigated the incidence, natural history, and functional consequences of a newly developed flexion contracture after total knee arthroplasty (TKA).

Methods: Forty patients with full knee extension preoperatively who developed a postoperative flexion contracture were match-paired 1:2 with 80 patients who had full extension. The incidence of a newly developed flexion contracture, ROM, and Knee Society scores (KSS) at six weeks, four months, and one year were analysed.

Results: The incidence of a new flexion contracture at six weeks was 14%, but diminished to 5% and 0.3% at four months and one year, respectively. One year after surgery, there was no difference in the KSS (p = 0.5).

Conclusions: This study showed that the majority of patients who developed a new flexion contracture after TKA have full knee extension one year postoperatively. Moreover, knee extension and KSS at one year are equivalent to those patients who did not developed a flexion contracture.

PubMed Disclaimer

References

    1. Goudie ST, Deakin AH, Ahmad A, Maheshwari R, Picard F. Flexion contracture following primary total knee arthroplasty: risk factors and outcomes. Orthopedics. 2011;34:e855–e859. - PubMed
    1. Lam LO, Swift S, Shakespeare D. Fixed flexion deformity and flexion after knee arthroplasty. What happens in the first 12 months after surgery and can a poor outcome be predicted? Knee. 2003;10:181–185. doi: 10.1016/S0968-0160(02)00102-3. - DOI - PubMed
    1. Parvizi J, Tarity TD, Steinbeck MJ, Politi RG, Joshi A, Purtill JJ, Sharkey PF. Management of stiffness following total knee arthroplasty. J Bone Joint Surg Am. 2006;88(Suppl 4):175–181. doi: 10.2106/JBJS.F.00608. - DOI - PubMed
    1. Quah C, Swamy G, Lewis J, Kendrew J, Badhe N. Fixed flexion deformity following total knee arthroplasty. A prospective study of the natural history. Knee. 2012;19:519–521. doi: 10.1016/j.knee.2011.09.003. - DOI - PubMed
    1. Ritter MA, Lutgring JD, Davis KE, Berend ME, Pierson JL, Meneghini RM. The role of flexion contracture on outcomes in primary total knee arthroplasty. J Arthroplasty. 2007;22:1092–1096. doi: 10.1016/j.arth.2006.11.009. - DOI - PubMed

Publication types

MeSH terms

LinkOut - more resources