Orthopedics Today reports on the findings of an HSS retrospective study presented at the virtual EFORT Congress by research fellow Joost A. Burger, DMed, showing despite issues with mobile-bearing lateral unicompartmental knee arthroplasty implants, there is evidence of similar midterm to long-term survivorship of both lateral and medial unicompartmental knee arthroplasty performed from 2007 to 2017.

Dr. Burger and colleagues accessed data from the Dutch Arthroplasty Register to compare survivorship of 537 lateral unicompartmental knee arthroplasties (UKAs) and 19,295 medial UKAs with regard to implant and patient characteristics. “The effect of patient characteristics on revision rate was comparable between lateral and medial UKA. However, higher revision rates were observed for mobile bearings compared to fixed bearings on the lateral side; while medially, no difference was observed between mobile and fixed bearings,” said Dr. Burger. “Five-year revision rate was 12.9 for lateral and 9.3 for medial UKA,” he added.

“Progression of osteoarthritis was the main reason for revision on both sides, accompanied by tibial loosening for medial UKA,” noted Dr. Burger. “Our findings reflect the differences in anatomy and kinematics between the two compartments and suggest that other surgical principals need to be considered in lateral compared to medial UKA.”

Read the full article at Healio.com/news/orthopedics.