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. 2014 Mar;26(1):13-9.
doi: 10.5792/ksrr.2014.26.1.13. Epub 2014 Feb 27.

Causes of failure after total knee arthroplasty in osteoarthritis patients 55 years of age or younger

Kyung Tae Kim  1 , Song Lee  1 , Dong Oh Ko  1 , Bong Soo Seo  1 , Woo Shik Jung  1 , Byung Kwon Chang  1
Affiliations

Causes of failure after total knee arthroplasty in osteoarthritis patients 55 years of age or younger

Kyung Tae Kim et al. Knee Surg Relat Res. 2014 Mar.

Abstract

Purpose: To identify the modes of failure after total knee arthroplasty (TKA) in patients >55 years of age and to compare with those >55 years of age in patients who underwent revision TKA.

Materials and methods: We retrospectively reviewed 256 revision TKAs among patients who underwent TKA for knee osteoarthritis between January 1992 and December 2012. The causes of TKA failure were analyzed and compared between the groups.

Results: Thirty-one revision TKAs were performed in patients ≤55 years of age at the time of primary TKA, whereas 225 cases were in those >55 years of age at primary TKA. In the ≤55 years of age group, the most common cause of TKA failure was polyethylene wear (45%) followed by infection (26%) and loosening (17%). The interval from primary TKA to revision was 8.6 years (range, 1 to 17 years). There were relatively lower infection rate and higher loosening rate in patients ≤55 years of age, but the difference was not statistically significant.

Conclusions: The main causes of failure after TKA in patients ≤55 years of age were polyethylene wear, infection and loosening, and there was no significant difference in the modes of failure after TKA between the two groups.

Keywords: Arthroplasty; Failure; Knee; Revision; Younger age.

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Conflict of interest statement

No potential conflict of interest relevant to this article was reported.

Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1
(A, B) Radiographs showing failure of total knee arthroplasty (TKA) that occurred 11 years after primay TKA due to polyethlylene wear in a 50-year-old female. (C, D) Radiographs obtained after revision TKA for polyethylene insert change.
Fig. 2
Fig. 2
(A, B) Radiographs showing failure of total knee arthroplasty (TKA) that occurred 11 years after primay TKA due to aseptic loosening in a 53-year-old female. (C, D) Radiographs obtained after revision TKA using a metal block and a long stem.
Fig. 3
Fig. 3
The graph shows the frequency of failure over the time after total knee arthroplasty. In the >55 years of age group, the incidence of failure was the highest in the first 2 postoperative years and then declined continuously after total knee arthroplasty. The incidence of failure was relatively constant over the time after total knee arthroplasty in the ≤55 years of age group.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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