Publication:

Outcome after total knee arthroplasty with or without patellar resurfacing

Background Patellar resurfacing in total knee arthroplasty has had its defenders and detractors. There seems to be a great difference in patellar resurfacing between countries and patellar resurfacing is still controversial. Some surgeons resurface the patella routinely, others not at all, and a third group prefers selective resurfacing. Therefore, in this prospective and randomised study, we compared the outcome after total knee arthroplasty with or without patellar resurfacing.

Methods In this study 50 cases (100 knees) were selected and each case was followed up for 2 years. In each case, one knee was operated by TKA with patellar resurfacing and the other by TKA with patellar non-resurfacing. Patients were followed-up for a period of 2 years and clinical and functional outcome of both knees was measured and compared by the help of knee society score (KSS) and VAS score.

Results There was statistically significant difference between the patellar resurfacing and non-resurfacing group with regard to knee society score, pain score and visual analogue score (VAS), with the patellar resurfacing having better scores. There was no significant difference in the functional scores between the 2 groups. Range of motion was complication rate was comparable in both the groups. However, there was no case of reoperation nor was there any complication related to the patellar implant.

Conclusions Patellar resurfacing in TKA leads to less post-operative persisting knee pain, and also leads to better outcome in terms of walking without pain, using stairs without pain and rest pain as compared to TKA without patellar resurfacing.