Will Total Knee Replacement Ever Provide Normal Knee Function?

Abstract

Knee osteoarthritis or gonarthrosis is considered the most common joint disease, affecting more than 70% of subjects aged over 65 years. Its occurrence is increasing with age and is more problematic with the current rise in the incidence of obesity. In severe and advanced cases, total knee arthroplasty is recommended as a gold standard therapy for pain relief, restoration of normal knee function, and quality of life improvement. There are numerous controversies whether total knee arthroplasty is able to reach and provide end-point outcomes and restore previous function of the knee joint. Studies suggest that the surgeons’ experience, type of prosthesis used, associated pathology, underlying pathologies, risk factors, continuous passive movement, and patient expectations about the surgery may influence the outcomes to a great extent. “Normal knee function” is a statement that is hardly defined in the current literature, as authors usually refer to subjective results when analyzing outcomes. Objective results may be more straightforward, but they do not always symbolize the actual state that the patient is reporting or the actual quality of life. Our objective was to analyze and present summaries of the current literature regarding normal knee function restoration after total knee replacement surgery. Our literature review results confirm the hypothesis that subjective and objective results are difficult to interpret and unravel. Complex future trials may bring supplementary and clearer conclusions regarding knee function and kinematics, clinical improvement, patient satisfaction, and quality of life.

Keywords

• knee replacement
• total knee arthroplasty
• outcomes