[Complications after Revision Total Knee Arthroplasties]

Area of Science:

• Orthopedic Surgery
• Biomedical Engineering
• Infectious Diseases

Background:

• Arthroplasty failure, particularly infection, is a growing concern.
• Revision total knee arthroplasty (TKA) aims to address complications from primary TKA.

Purpose of the Study:

• To determine the frequency and types of complications after revision TKA.
• To compare complication rates between revision and primary TKAs.

Main Methods:

• Retrospective analysis of 50 revision TKAs for aseptic loosening and 24 for infection (2007-2016).
• Comparison with 2,436 primary TKAs performed during the same period.
• Monitoring of further revision surgeries due to complications.

Main Results:

• Primary TKA failure rate was 3.1%; aseptic loosening (2.1%) and infection (1%) were key reasons.
• Revision surgery for aseptic loosening had a 12% re-revision rate; revision for infection had a 37.5% re-revision rate.
• Infection was the most common reason for revision surgery in both primary and revision cases.

Conclusions:

• Revision TKA exhibits a substantially higher complication frequency than primary TKA.
• Re-revision rates were 3x higher after revision for aseptic loosening and 10x higher after revision for infection.
• Infection remains the most problematic complication in both primary and revision TKAs.