The main goals of TKA are pain relief and improvement of function and range of motion (ROM). To ascertain whether TKA in patients
with stiff knees would relieve pain and improve functional outcome and ROM, we asked four questions: whether (1) Knee Society
and WOMAC scores would improve after TKA; (2) poor preoperative ROM would improve after TKA; (3) the revision rate of TKA
in stiff knees would be high; and (4) complication rates would be high in these patients after TKA. We retrospectively reviewed
74 patients (86 knees) with stiff knees (mean age, 56.8 years) who underwent TKAs with a condylar constrained or a posterior
stabilized prosthesis. The minimum followup was 5 years (mean, 9.1 years; range, 5–12 years). The mean preoperative Hospital
for Special Surgery knee score and Knee Society knee and functional scores were 42, 11, and 42 points, respectively, and postoperatively
they were 84, 90, and 84 points, respectively. Preoperative and postoperative total WOMAC scores were 73 and 34 points, respectively.
One knee (1.2%) had aseptic loosening of the tibial component and 12 knees (14%) had complications. Despite a relatively high
rate of complications, most patients had substantial improvement in function.
Levels of Evidence: Level III, therapeutic study. See the Guidelines for Authors for a complete description of levels of evidence.
Each author certifies that he or she has no commercial association (eg, consultancies, stock ownership, equity interest, patent/licensing
arrangements, etc) that might pose a conflict of interest in connection with the submitted article.
Each author certifies that his or her institution has approved the human protocol for this investigation, that all investigations
were conducted in conformity with ethical principles of research, and that informed consent for participation in the study
was obtained.