7–20 % of the patients with a total knee arthroplasty (TKA) are dissatisfied without an indication for revision. Therapeutic options for this patient population with mostly a lack of quadriceps strength are limited. The purpose of this study is to evaluate the effect of six weeks low load resistance training with blood flow restriction (BFR) on the clinical outcome in these unhappy TKA patients.

Thirty-one unhappy TKA patients (of the scheduled fifty patients) without mechanical failure were included in this prospective study since 2022. The patients participate in a supervised resistance training combined with BFR, two times a week during nine weeks. Patients were evaluated by the Knee Osteoarthritis Outcome Score (KOOS), Knee Society Score: satisfaction (KSSs) and the Pain Catastrophizing Scale (PCS). Functionality was tested using the Six Minute Walk Test (6MWT) and the 30-Second Chair Stand Test (30CST). Follow-up took place at six weeks, three months and six months after the start.

Six weeks training with BFR provided statistically significant improvements in all the KOOS subscales compared to the baseline, especially for symptoms (55.1 (±15.4) versus 48.0 (±16.5); p<0.001), activities in daily living (50.3 (±21.1) versus 43.7 (±17.2); p<0.00) and quality of life (24.6 (±18.5) versus 17.3 (±13.0); p<0.001). The PCS reduced from 27.4 (±11.0) to 23.2 (±11.4) at six weeks (p<0.01), whereas the KSSs increased from 11.8 (±6.5) to 14.9 (±7.6) (p=0.021). Both the 6MWT and the 30CST improved statistically significant from respectively 319.7 (±15.0) to 341.6m (±106.5) (p<0.01) and 8.6 (±3.9) to 9.3 times (±4.5) (p<0.01).

Blood flow restriction appears to enhance the quality of life and functional performance of unhappy TKA patients. Based on these preliminary results, BFR seems to be a promising and valuable alternative for these TKA patients with limited therapeutic options.

Background

Under- or oversizing of either component of a total knee implant can lead to early component loosening, instability, soft tissue irritation or overstuffing of joint gaps. All of these complications may cause postoperative persistent pain or stiffness. While survival of primary TKA's is excellent, recent studies show that patient satisfaction is worse. Up to 20% of the patients are not satisfied with the outcome as and residual pain is still a frequent occurrence.

The goal of this study was therefore to evaluate if the sizing of the femoral component, as measured on a 3D-reconstructed projection, is related to patient reported outcome measures.

From our prospectively collected TKA outcome database, all patients with a preoperative CT and a postoperative X-ray of their operated knee were included in this study. Of these 43 patients, 26 (60,5%) were women and 17 (39,5%) were men. The mean age (+/−SD) was 74,6 +/− 9 years.

Background

Kinematic patterns in total knee arthroplasty (TKA) can vary considerably from the native knee. No study has shown a relation between a given kinematic pattern and patient satisfaction yet.

Introduction

Today, Uganda has the second highest rate of road accidents in Africa and the world after Ethiopia. According to the World Health Organization's Global Status Report on Road Safety 2013, Uganda is named among countries with alarmingly high road accident rates. If such trend of traffic accidents continues to increase, the health losses from traffic injuries may be ranked as the second to HIV/AIDS by 2020. These road traffic accidents often result in terrible open injuries. Open fractures are complex injuries of bone and soft tissue. They are orthopedic emergencies due to risk of infection secondary to contamination and compromised soft tissues and sometimes vascular supply and associated healing problems. Any wound occurring on the same limb should be suspected as result of open fracture until proven otherwise. The principles of management of open fracture are initial evaluation and exclusion of life threatening injuries, prevention of infection, healing of fracture and restoration of function to injured extremity. Because of the poor hygienic circumstances and the high rate of cross-infection due to the crowded patient-wards, the risk of getting a post-operative infection is relatively high.

Osteoset-T® (Wright Medical) is a medical grade calcium sulfate bone graft substitute which is enhanced for use in infected sites by incorporating 4% tobramycin sulfate. The tobramycin is released locally, allowing therapeutic antibiotic levels at the graft site, while maintaining low systemic antibiotic levels. This local treatment of infection allows new bone formation in the defect site, while decreasing potential systemic effects.

INTRODUCTION

Thorough understanding and feedback of the post-operative implant position relative to the pre-operative anatomy is missing in today's clinical practice. However, three dimensional insights in the local under or oversizing of the implant can provide important feedback to the surgeon. For the knee for instance, to identify a shift in the sagittal joint line that potentially links to mid-flexion instability or to identify zones at risk for soft tissue impingement.

Despite a proven inferior outcome, clinical post-operative implant evaluation remains primarily based on bi-planar, static 2D x-rays rather than 3D imaging. Along with the cost, a possible reason is the increased radiation dose and/or metal artifact scatter in computed tomography (CT) and/or magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). These detrimental effects are now avoided by using recently released x-ray processing software. This technique uses standard-of-care post-operative x-rays in combination with a pre-operative CT and 3D file of the implant to determine the implant position relative to the pre-operative situation. The accuracy of this new technique is evaluated in this paper using patient cases. Therefore, the obtained implant position is benchmarked against post-operative CT scans.

Introduction

Better functional outcomes, lower pain and better stability have been reported with knee designs which restore physiological knee kinematics. Also the ability of the TKA design to properly restore the physiological femoral rollback during knee flexion, has shown to be correlated with better restoration of the flexor/extensor mechanism, which is fundamental to the function of the human knee. The purpose of the study is to compare the kinematics of three different TKA designs, by evaluating knee motion during Activities of Daily Living. The second goal is to see if there is a correlation between the TKA kinematics and the patient reported outcomes.

Background

In-vitro testing of knee joints remains vital in the understanding of knee surgery and arthroplasty. However, based on the design philosophy of the original Oxford knee simulator, this in-vitro testing has mainly focused on squatting motion. As the activities of daily living might drastically differ from this type of motion, both from a kinematic and kinetic point of view, a new knee simulator is required that allows studying more random motion patterns. This paper describes a novel knee simulator that overcomes the limitations of traditional Oxford simulators, providing both kinematic and kinetic freedom with respect to the applied boundary conditions.

Background

Total knee arthroplasty (TKA) is a proven and cost-effective treatment for osteoarthritis. Despite the good to excellent long-term results, some patients remain dissatisfied. Our study aimed at establishing a predictive model to aid patient selection and decision-making in TKA.

Introduction

Systemic metal ion monitoring (Co;Cr) has proven to be a useful screening tool for implant performance to detect failure at an early stage in metal-on-metal hip arthroplasty. Several clinical studies have reported elevated metal ion levels after total knee arthroplasty (TKA), with fairly high levels associated with rotating hinge knees (RHK) and megaprostheses¹. In a knee simulator study, Kretzer², demonstrated volumetric wear and corrosion of metallic surfaces. However, prospective in vivo data are scarce, resulting in a lack of knowledge of how levels evolve over time. The goal of this study was to measure serum Co and Cr levels in several types TKA patients prospectively, evaluate the evolution in time and investigate whether elevated levels could be used as an indicator for implant failure.

Systemic metal ion monitoring (Co;Cr) has proven to be a useful screening tool for implant performance to detect failure at an early stage in metal-on-metal hip arthroplasty. Several clinical studies have reported elevated metal ion levels after total knee arthroplasty (TKA), with fairly high levels associated with rotating hinge knees (RHK) and megaprostheses¹. In a knee simulator study, Kretzer², demonstrated volumetric wear and corrosion of metallic surfaces. However, prospective in vivo data are scarce, resulting in a lack of knowledge of how levels evolve over time. The goal of this study was to measure serum Co and Cr levels in several types TKA patients prospectively, evaluate the evolution in time and investigate whether elevated levels could be used as an indicator for implant failure.

The study was conducted at Ghent University hospital. 130 patients undergoing knee arthroplasty were included in the study, 35 patients were lost due to logistic problems. 95 patients with 124 knee prostheses had received either a TKA (primary or revision) (69 in 55 patients), a unicompartimental knee arthroplasty (7 UKA), a RHK (revision −7 in 6 patients) or a megaprosthesis (malignant bone tumours − 28 in 27 patients). The TKA, UKA and RHK groups were followed prospectively, with serum Co and Cr ions measured preoperatively, at 3,6 and 12 months postoperatively. In patients with a megaprosthesis, metal ions were measured at follow-up (cross-sectional study design).

In primary knees, we did not observe an increase in serum metal ion levels at 3, 6 or 12 months. Two patients with a hip arthroplasty had elevated preTKA Co and Cr levels. There was no difference between unilateral and bilateral knee prostheses. In the revision group, elevated pre-revision levels were found in 2 failures for implant loosening. In both cases, ion levels decreased postoperatively. In revisions with a standard TKA, there was no significant increase in metal ions compared to primary knee arthroplasty. RHK were associated with a significant increase in Co levels even at short-term (3–12 months). The megaprosthesis group had the highest metal ion levels and showed a significant increase in Co and Cr with time in patients followed prospectively. With the current data, we could not demonstrate a correlation between metal ion levels, size of the implant or length of time in situ.

In primary knee arthroplasty with a standard TKA or UKA, metal ion levels were not elevated till one year postoperatively. This suggests a different mechanism of metal ion release in comparison to metal-on-metal hip arthroplasties. In two cases of revision for implant loosening, pre-revision levels were elevated, possibly associated with component wear, and decreased after revision. With RHK, slightly elevated ion levels were found prospectively. Megaprostheses had significantly elevated Co and Cr levels, due to corrosion of large metallic surfaces and/or wear of components which were not perfectly aligned during difficult reconstruction after tumour resection. Further research is needed to assess the clinical relevance of metal ion levels in knee arthroplasty.

Introduction

Better functional outcomes, lower pain and better stability have been reported with knee designs which restore physiological knee kinematics. Also the ability of the TKA design to properly restore the physiological femoral rollback during knee flexion, has shown to be correlated with better restoration of the flexor/extensor mechanism (appropriate flexor/extensor muscle lever arm, sufficient quadriceps force to extend the knee under load and limited patello-femoral force), which is fundamental to the function of the human knee. The purpose of the study is to compare the kinematics of three different TKA designs, by evaluating knee motion during Activities of Daily Living. The second goal is to see if there is a correlation between the TKA kinematics and the patient reported outcomes.

For evaluating the impact of knee surgery, cadaveric knee simulators are commonly applied. However, most of the knee simulators are based on the Oxford type as originally described by Zavatsky (Zavatsky, J. of Biomechanics, 1997). These simulators mainly focus on the squatting motion. Although a wide range of flexion angles can be examined while performing this motion, the significance for activities of daily living is limited.

To that extent a new knee simulator has recently been developed at Ghent University. In this simulator, the ankle motion is dynamically controlled in the sagittal plane; both in the proximal/distal direction and the anterior/posterior direction. As a result, this simulator allows simulating random motion patterns, e.g. cycling, stair ascent and descent, … The ankle translation is unrestrained in the medial/lateral direction. In addition, all rotational degrees of freedom are unrestrained at the ankle, resulting in four degrees of freedom at the ankle. The hip adds one rotational degree of freedom being the rotation in the sagittal plane. This leaves 5 degrees of freedom (DOF) to the knee; the sixth being flexion/extension that is controlled by the actuators at the ankle. During the simulation of different motion patterns, the quadriceps and hamstring force are actively controlled to mimic realistic conditions obtained through musculoskeletal simulations.

In this study, five cadaveric experiments have been performed on the simulator. While mounting the cadaveric specimens in the test rig, the initial alignment remains crucial. Whilst the rig leaves 5 DOF to the knee, it is important to restore the anatomical position of the hip and ankle. To minimize the impact of the mounting procedure, cadaver specific 3D printed guides are used to assure the alignment of the cadaver in the test rig. As a result, the kinematics are more likely to represent physiological conditions. These kinematics have been evaluated in accordance to the methodology described by Grood&Suntay (Grood & Suntay, Transactions of the ASME, 1983). Therefore, a CT scan of the examined knee is combined with motion tracking data from rigidly attached markers on both the femur and the tibia. The cadaveric knees have been subjected to a variety of motion patterns, i.e. squatting and cycling. The squatting experiments provide evidence that the knee simulator creates adequate boundary conditions as the kinematic patterns coincide with literature reportings. The cycling experiments however significantly differ from the squatting patterns. Most noteworthy is the difference in terms of internal/external rotation for these native knees (Figure 1). This internal/external rotations is highly fluctuating from flexion to extension. This is understood as the quadriceps force is not constant during the extension phase, representing physiological conditions.

Total knee arthroplasty aims at restoring the function of the native knee. An important aspect at this point are the knee kinematics, as it can be assumed that following TKA surgery these should resemble the native conditions. The use of cadaveric testing is since long an important step in the development and validation of implant designs and surgical techniques. However, this cadaveric testing has primarily focused on squatting under load bearing conditions. The main research question of this paper is therefore to evaluate the impact of TKA surgery on the knee kinematics under a range of boundary conditions.

A set of five cadaveric knees have been tested in a newly developed and validated knee simulator at Ghent University. In contrast to other simulators, this simulator allows simulating a wide range of conditions as it facilitates a controlled movement of the ankle in the sagittal plane under continuously variable hamstring and quadriceps loading. In the framework of this study, two different motion patterns have been studied. First, the knees were subjected to a traditional squatting motion maintaining constant quadriceps loading. Second, the knees were tested while performing a cycling movement with a highly variable quadriceps load during the extension phase. For both cases, the studied motion patterns have been repeated five times. Following the evaluation of the native knee kinematics, TKA surgery was performed using a single radius implant. During surgery, the implant alignment has been controlled using computer navigation. Subsequently, the same boundary conditions have been applied and the kinematics again recorded.

Focusing on the native knee, the measured kinematic patterns for the squatting motion significantly differ from the ones observed for the cycling movement for similar flexion angles. This is attributed to a difference in quadriceps loading. However, following TKA surgery, the kinematic patterns are remarkably comparable between the squatting and cycling experiments. These observations suggest that the TKA design considered in this study displays a highly constrained behavior. More specifically, the design appears to favor the squatting behavior. Further study is however required to thoroughly evaluate this observation for other implant designs and a wider range of motion patterns.

Introduction

A total knee replacement is a proven cost-effective treatment for end-stage osteoarthritis, with a positive effect on pain and function. However, only 80% of the patients are satisfied after surgery. It is known that high preoperative expectations and residual postoperative pain are important determinants of satisfaction, but also malalignment, poor function and disturbed kinematics can be a cause. The purpose of this study was to investigate the correlation between the preoperative function and the postoperative patient reported outcomes PROMs) as well as the influence of the postoperative functional rehabilitation on the PROMs.

Background

The use of Computed Tomography (CT) as a medical imaging tool has widespread applications in the field of knee surgery. Surgeons use a CT scan in a conventional way during the pre-operative stage, to plan the position of the femoral component in the horizontal plane. In the post-operative stage, the use of a CT scan is a routine tool in the evaluation of failed TKA as rotational malalignment of the femoral component has been determined as a cause of poor clinical outcome after TKA.

Introduction

Total Knee Arthroplasty (TKA) is a proven successful and cost-effective method to relieve pain and improve joint function and quality of life in patients with advanced knee arthritis. However, after a TKA, only 75 to 89% of patients are satisfied. Since patient satisfaction is one of the main objectives of elective orthopaedic surgery, it is important to investigate the reasons for dissatisfaction and develop remedial strategies.