Despite the success of total knee arthroplasty (TKA) in treating end-stage knee arthritis, 11% to 19% of patients are dissatisfied with the outcome of their surgery. In this study we investigated how satisfied overall patients are with the outcome of posterior stabilized TKA and what particular functional deficits or residual symptoms cause the most dissatisfaction for patients after surgery.
Using patient-completed validated questionnaires, we retrospectively analyzed data for 1013 posterior-stabilized TKAs performed in 748 Chinese patients regarding the overall satisfaction with surgery and the importance ranking of each of 15 specific functions and residual symptoms.
Our data demonstrate an overall satisfaction rate of 87.4%. Satisfaction percentages ranged from 45.0% to 89.0%. The top 6 dissatisfactory items were sitting with legs crossed (dissatisfaction rate of 55.0%), squatting (51.7%), walking fast or jogging (45.4%), knee clunking (34.5%), abnormal feeling in knee (31.2%), and climbing stairs (28.2%). The top 6 important functions or issues were pain relief, walking on flat ground, climbing stairs, ability to return to household work, decreased limping, and squatting.
Approximately 1 in 8 patients was dissatisfied with overall outcome. Patients were most dissatisfied with climbing stairs and squatting, functions that they considered most important.