Abstract
Selective patellar resurfacing continues in total knee arthroplasty (TKA). We define
the demographics of patients selected for this procedure and report their short-term,
aseptic revision rate. A community-based Total Joint Replacement Registry (TJRR) comprising
39,000 TKAs with median follow-up of 24.5 months was evaluated. Patients who underwent
bicompartmental TKA were younger (p < 0.001), suffered posttraumatic arthrosis (p < 0.001), and receive hybrid fixation (p < 0.001). In multivariate analysis, the unresurfaced patella is an independent risk
factor for early revision with a relative increased risk of 2.3 (95% CI, 1.4–3.7).
The cumulative survivorship at 6 years for tricompartmental TKA is 98.1 versus 93.6%
for bicompartmental knees (p < 0.001). Despite selecting patients with presumably healthier patellofemoral joints
for bicompartmental TKA, the unresurfaced patella remains a risk factor for early
revision.
Keywords
knee - patella - arthroplasty - outcomes - revision