Cruciate-retaining Arthroplasty in Patients with Severe Varus Deformity: A Retrospective Comparative Study

There has been debate regarding the advantages of cruciate-retaining over posterior stabilized (PS) knee arthroplasty and vice versa. Many authors consider any coronal plane deformity > 15° as a contraindication for cruciate-retaining total knee arthroplasty. We aimed to compare whether functional outcome, deformity correction, and survivorship of cruciate retaining knee arthroplasty (CR) for severe varus deformity are equivalent to that ofposterior cruciate ligament substituting (PS) for 6 years.

We conducted a retrospective comparative study among patients who underwent Total Knee Replacement in the Orthopedics Department of a tertiary care hospital between 2016 and 2018 August who had a varus deformity of more than 15°. The first author exclusively performed CR operation (Group A) for all complex knees. In contrast, the second author performed PS surgery (Group B) for any coronal plane deformity over 15°. Clinical evaluation included completing a Knee Society Score (KSS) Evaluation Form. Pre-operative scoring was collected from the hospital database. All clinical examinations and radiographs at the final follow-up were done by the third author, who was unbiased and not involved with the initial patient care.

here were 39 patients in Group A (CR) and 28 patients in Group B (PS). In Group A, the mean pre-operative varus was 22.05 ± 2.72° and the pre-operative KSS was 32.94 ± 6.79. Postoperatively, the deformity corrected to a mean valgus of 5.48 ± 1.8° and mean KSS of 89.17 ± 5.79. In Group B, the mean pre-operative varus was 22.14±3.82° and pre-operative KSS was 32.82 ± 5.98. Postoperatively, the deformity corrected to a mean valgus of 4.85 ± 2.1° and mean KSS of 90.17 ± 5.13. The mean insert thickness was 11.76 ± 1.75 mm and 11.42 ± 1.75mm among the CRand PS groups, respectively. Concerning deformity correction (P = 0.19) and functional outcome (P = 0.46), both groups showed equal improvement with a 100% survival rate for 6 years.

We concluded that CRknee replacements are possible with excellent functional and radiological outcomes in severe varus arthritic knees with a 100 % survival rate.