Bi-unicompartmental versus total knee arthroplasty: a matched paired study with early clinical results

Abstract

The results of this 48 months follow-up study suggest that Bi-UKR is a viable option for bicompartmental tibio-femoral arthritis at least as well as TKR but maintaining a higher level of function.

Survival of Bicompartmental Knee Arthroplasty at 5 to 23 Years

“…In fact, this bone and ligamentsparing technique can be considered minimally invasive surgery, not only for the skin and the muscular tissue, but also for the structures inside the knee [7,10,[16][17][18]30]. This is confirmed by our data observed in the series of bicompartmental arthroplasty reported in the literature (Table 4) [7,10,14,17,20,34].…”

“…One of the primary aims of bicompartmental arthroplasty is to restore more normal knee kinematics and function by preserving the bone and the ligaments of the patient [7,10,[16][17][18]30]. In fact, this bone and ligamentsparing technique can be considered minimally invasive surgery, not only for the skin and the muscular tissue, but also for the structures inside the knee [7,10,[16][17][18]30].…”

“…In fact, this bone and ligamentsparing technique can be considered minimally invasive surgery, not only for the skin and the muscular tissue, but also for the structures inside the knee [7,10,[16][17][18]30]. This is confirmed by our data observed in the series of bicompartmental arthroplasty reported in the literature (Table 4) [7,10,14,17,20,34]. According to kinematic and gait studies, knees with biunicondylar arthroplasty can provide excellent functional outcomes in appropriately selected patients close to those observed with UKA.…”

“…functional status of the patient and the survival after UKA are better when the anterior cruciate ligament is intact [3,6]. Similarly, outcome and kinematic studies suggest maintaining the anterior cruciate ligament in bi-and tricompartmental knee arthroplasty may be advantageous in terms of survivorship [9,20], stairclimbing ability, patient satisfaction, and joint kinematics [2,9,10,20,27,30,35].…”

“…Considering these recent data on UKA and given bicompartmental arthritis of the knee is not rare, there is renewed interest in bicompartmental knee arthroplasties, including combined medial UKA and femoropatellar arthroplasty as well as combined medial and lateral UKA [10,14,30]. Smaller implant sizes, less operative trauma, preservation of both cruciate ligaments and bone stock, and a more ''physiological'' knee are reported advantages over TKA [7,14,[16][17][18]30].…”