Does a mobile-bearing, high-flexion design increase knee flexion after total knee replacement?

Abstract

This prospective randomised controlled double-blind trial compared two types of PFC Sigma total knee replacement (TKR), differing in three design features aimed at improving flexion. The outcome of a standard fixed-bearing posterior cruciate ligament-preserving design (FB-S) was compared with that of a high-flexion rotating-platform posteriorstabilised design (RP-F) at one year after TKR. The study group of 77 patients with osteoarthritis of the knee comprised 37 men and 40 women, with a mean age of 69 years (44.9 to 84.9). The patients were randomly allocated either to the FB-S or the RP-F group and assessed pre-operatively and at one year postoperatively. The mean post-operative non-weight-bearing flexion was 107 (95% confidence interval (CI) 104 to 110)) for the FB-S group and 113 (95% CI 109 to 117) for the RP-F group, and this difference was statistically significant (p = 0.032). However, weight-bearing range of movement during both level walking and ascending a slope as measured during flexible electrogoniometry was a mean of 4 lower in the RP-F group than in the FB-S group, with 58 (95% CI 56 to 60) versus 54 (95% CI 51 to 57) for level walking (p = 0.019) and 56 (95% CI 54 to 58) versus 52 (95% CI 48 to 56) for ascending a slope (p = 0.044). Further, the mean post-operative pain score of the Western Ontario and McMaster Universities Osteoarthritis Index was significantly higher in the RP-F group (2.5 (95% CI 1.5 to 3.5) versus 4.2 (95% CI 2.9 to 5.5), p = 0.043). Although the RP-F group achieved higher non-weight-bearing knee flexion, patients in this group did not use this during activities of daily living and reported more pain one year after surgery. 2012 British Editorial Society of Bone and Joint Surgery.