Outcome reporting patterns in total knee arthroplasty: A systematic review.

Area of Science:

• Orthopedic Surgery
• Biomedical Engineering
• Clinical Research Methodology

Background:

• Total knee arthroplasty (TKA) is a primary treatment for end-stage knee conditions.
• Inconsistent reporting of TKA outcomes complicates quantitative analysis and comparative effectiveness research.

Purpose of the Study:

• To systematically review and analyze outcome reporting patterns in randomized controlled trials (RCTs) of total knee arthroplasty.
• To identify common domains and metrics used to assess TKA patient outcomes.

Main Methods:

• A systematic literature review of RCTs using keywords 'total knee arthroplasty' and 'total knee replacement'.
• Extraction and categorization of study types, outcome measures, and reported results.
• Quantitative analysis of reporting frequencies across treatment domains.

Main Results:

• 233 RCTs were analyzed, revealing substantial variability in short-term and long-term outcome reporting.
• Objective knee function, subjective knee function, perioperative complications, and pain were the most frequently reported domains.
• Range of motion was the most common metric for objective function; Knee Society Score and Knee Injury and Osteoarthritis Outcome Score for subjective function; Visual Analog Scale for pain.

Conclusions:

• Significant heterogeneity exists in TKA outcome reporting within the current literature.
• Most TKA studies do not comprehensively assess outcomes across all relevant domains, with some focusing on only one.