Unicompartmental Knee Arthroplasty

Abstract

Unicompartmental knee arthroplasty (UKA) is a surgical pro cedure that selectively replaces only the damaged compartment of the knee for the treatment of osteoarthritis. It has specific and narrow indications, and treatment success is highly dependent on the surgeon's skill and implant selection. In addition, it is tech nically difficult to perform, early failure rates are relatively high, and the longterm survivorship of UKA has not yet been exten sively studied 1,2). The theme of this issue of the Knee Surgery & Related Research (KSRR) is UKA. The current issue contains three original articles on this theme. In one article, Kim et al. described the longterm clinical results of UKA in patients younger than 60 years of age. Another article by Cho et al. focused on the design of implant and surgical technique of UKA. The last article by Ryu et al. com pared the clinical and radiographic outcomes of HTO and UKA in relatively young patients with unicompartmental arthritis of the knee. The traditional indications for UKA include degenerative ar thritis of the knee affecting one compartment, >60 years of age, body weight <82 kg (180 lb), lowdemand for activities, range of motion ≥90°, flexion contracture ≤5°, angular deformity <15°, and absence of symptoms and signs of inflammatory arthritis 3). However, the indications have continued to expand with recent advancements in surgical techniques and implant designs. As a re sult, UKA is currently considered a viable option in most patients regardless of age, activity level, and weight 4,5). Although the indica