Comparison of mobile-bearing and fixed-bearing total knee arthroplasty: a prospective randomized study

The purpose of this prospective randomized study was to compare the postoperative recovery and early results of 2 groups of patients undergoing total knee arthroplasty: 107 patients received an established fixed-bearing posterior-stabilized prosthesis (Legacy Posterior Stabilized [LPS]), and 103 patients the meniscal-bearing prosthesis (Meniscal Bearing Knee [MBK]). Surgical procedures were the same for both groups except for posterior cruciate ligament management, which was sacrificed in the LPS group and spared but completely released from the tibia in the MBK group. At an average follow-up of 36 months, knee, function, and patellar scores were comparable in both groups. The LPS group showed a significantly higher maximum flexion than the MBK group (112 degrees vs 108 degrees). Using a fixed-bearing or a mobile-bearing design did not seem to influence the short-term recovery and early results after knee arthroplasty. Key words: total knee arthroplasty, mobile bearing, knee prosthesis, meniscal-bearing knee, posterior stabilized, prospective randomized.