Anterior Knee Pain After Total Knee Arthroplasty: A Critical Review of Peripatellar Variables

» Despite the widespread success of total knee arthroplasty (TKA), postoperative anterior knee pain (AKP) remains a common occurrence and source of dissatisfaction with several readily discernible and diagnosable causes of AKP after TKA, including component malpositioning, infection, wear and osteolysis, instability, and loosening, among others.» In the setting of the well-appearing but painful TKA, potential intraoperative contributors to AKP have been extensively investigated, but remain controversial and include patellar resurfacing, patellar denervation, and patellofemoral joint overstuffing or understuffing.» Intraoperative management of peripatellar soft tissues has comparatively attained substantially less attention recently, and persistent controversy exists in the literature to make informed decisions on soft-tissue management and identify potential contributors to AKP.» Further investigations and research is needed, including exploration of multifactorial or alternative etiologies, specifically ones related to less obvious soft-tissue-related factors, needed to better understand and ultimately avoid AKP after TKA.