Abstract
Purpose
To examine the clinical characteristics of patients undergoing knee arthroplasty with a pre-operative Oxford Knee Score >34 (‘good’/‘excellent’), and assess the appropriateness of surgical intervention for this group.
Background
In the current cost-constrained health economy, justification of surgical intervention is increasingly sought. As a validated disease-specific outcome measure, the pre-operative Oxford Knee Score (OKS) has been suggested as a possible threshold measurement in knee arthroplasty. However, contrary to expectations, analysis of pre-operative OKS in the joint registry population demonstrates a normal distribution curve with a sub-group of high-scoring patients. This suggests that either the baseline OKS does not accurately define surgical threshold, or that patients with a high OKS are inappropriately having knee replacements.
Methods
Retrospective case-note review of patients listed for primary Knee arthroplasty (n=1058), with a preoperative OKS >34 (n=44). Data was extracted, with analysis of referral criteria, clinical presentation, radiological changes (Kellgren-Lawrence), and content analysis of the appropriateness of knee arthroplasty. Age and gender differences were compared between OKS<34 and OKS>34 groups.
Results
No significant difference was observed in age between groups. Gender distribution in the OKS>34 group was 2:1(M:F) compared with 1:1.3 (M:F) in the OKS<34 group. Once listed for surgery, 81.8% proceeded with arthroplasty, while 18.2% cancelled due to improvement in symptoms. A contralateral knee arthroplasty had been performed in 10(22.8%), and previous arthroscopy in 15(34.1%) cases. Advanced radiological changes were observed in 33(75.0%) cases. Based on available information, surgery was deemed appropriate in 54.5%, questionable 15.9%, and perhaps inappropriate in 4.5% cases (insufficient information for categorisation 25.0%).
Conclusion
A small group of patients deemed appropriate for knee arthroplasty present with high pre-operative OKS. Pre-operative OKS appears insensitive to the individual factors involved in defining treatment allocation, and further assessment is required. Introduction of pre-operative threshold scores cannot be currently recommended for knee arthroplasty.
