The total knee replacement concerns patients with large functional impairments of this joint. The most common in use now is total nonconstrained knee prosthesis.
Twenty-five patients underwent total knee replacement between 1987-1997. For twelve patients the cause of treatment was RA, for thirteen it was the implication of idiopathic osteoarthritis of the knee. The mean age of the patient during the operation was 60 years (range 27 to 78 years). The mean follow-up of knee replacement was 13 years. We based our outcome evaluation on clinical (WOMAC, KSS) and radiological evaluation.
The average preoperative KSS score for the group of patients was 40, WOMAC score--95. After an average of 13 years follow-up all knees were considered excellent, with average KSS score of 98, WOMAC score of 30. All patients had increased function and decreased pain. The radiograms of all patients revealed that the femoral and tibial components of the prosthesis were correctly positioned with no radiographic evidence of loosening in the last examination.
Clinical and radiological evaluation of our material showed that total knee replacement allows regaining good lower limb function for the long time, which helps the patients staying less dependant on the surrounding environment. The above appears to occur regardless of the primary diagnosis which was the indication for operation.