2025 ISAKOS Biennial Congress ePoster
Knee Arthroscopy Prior To Unicompartmental Knee Arthroplasty Does Not Lead To Infection Or Implant Failure
Kevin D. Plancher, MD, MPH, New York, NY UNITED STATES
Karina Wang, BS, Stamford, Connecticut UNITED STATES
Melanie C Reyes, MPH, Stamford, Connecticut UNITED STATES
Geoff C Braun, MS, Stamford, Connecticut UNITED STATES
Karen Briggs, MPH UNITED STATES
Stephanie C. Petterson, MPT, PhD, Old Greenwich, CT UNITED STATES
Plancher Orthopaedics and Sports Medicine, New York, New York, UNITED STATES
FDA Status Not Applicable
Summary
Arthroscopy within 2 years of UKA and same-day arthroscopy did not increase 90-day infection or early implant failure.
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Abstract
Background
Higher rates of postoperative infection and failure have been reported in patients that have undergone arthroscopy prior to knee arthroplasty. The purpose was to determine if knee arthroscopy prior to unicompartmental knee arthroplasty (UKA) leads to infection or early implant failure postoperatively. We hypothesized that arthroscopy prior to UKA will not result in a significantly higher incidence of infection or early implant failure.
Methods
A consecutive series of patients that underwent a fixed-bearing medial or lateral UKA by a single surgeon from 2000-2022 were included. Patients were divided into preoperative, same-day, and no-arthroscopy groups. The preoperative knee arthroscopy group was comprised of patients that had a knee arthroscopy within 2 years of UKA. Primary outcomes were periprosthetic joint infection (PJI) and all-cause infection within the first 90-days postoperatively. Secondary outcomes were early failure within 2-years of UKA and long-term survivorship. Fisher’s exact tests and two-way analysis of variance were used to assess differences between groups and Kaplan-Meier survival estimates for prosthesis survivorship.
Results
Two-hundred seventy-seven knees that underwent UKA (211 medial, 66 lateral) were included [no-arthroscopy (N=11), preoperative arthroscopy (N=22), same-day arthroscopy (N=244)]. Mean time from arthroscopy to UKA in the preoperative arthroscopy group was 131.8±120.2 days. There were no 90-day PJI in any group. Two superficial infections occurred in the same-day group, both resolved within 14 and 22 days (p=1.000). Two early failures occurred in the same-day group (2/244, 0.82%) due to a technical error and a PJI following a postoperative knee arthroscopy at 1-year. Five- 10-, and 15-year survivorship was 100% for both the preoperative and no-arthroscopy groups, and 98.0%, 96.9% and 90.6%, respectively, in the same-day group (p=0.640).
Conclusion
Arthroscopy within 2 years of UKA and same-day arthroscopy did not increase 90-day infection or early implant failure. Knee arthroscopy can be safely performed before or concurrently with UKA to address any concomitant pathologies in the non-arthritic, adjacent compartment to support long-term symptomatic improvement and survivorship.