Computer aided analysis of total knee replacement in rheumatoid arthritis

Area of Science:

• Orthopedic surgery
• Biomedical engineering
• Medical data analysis

Background:

• Knee replacement surgeries are common orthopedic procedures.
• Evaluating long-term outcomes and complications of different knee prostheses is crucial for improving patient care.
• A variety of knee arthroplasty designs have been developed over the years.

Purpose of the Study:

• To conduct a computer-aided analysis of 176 knee replacements performed over 12 years.
• To compare the outcomes and complication rates of different knee prosthesis models.
• To identify the most successful knee replacement designs based on clinical data.

Main Methods:

• Computer-aided data storage and retrieval system utilized for analysis.
• Retrospective review of 176 knee replacement cases from 129 patients.
• Analysis of complication rates including infection and loosening for various prostheses.

Main Results:

• Early Shiers knee hinged arthroplasties demonstrated less than 50% good results with high complication rates.
• Attenborough knee prostheses (n=60) yielded the best outcomes.
• Attenborough prostheses showed a low infection rate (3.3%) and loosening rate (5%).

Conclusions:

• Computer-aided analysis is effective for managing large datasets in orthopedic research.
• The Attenborough knee prosthesis appears to be a superior option compared to earlier designs like the Shiers prosthesis.
• Attenborough knee replacements offer favorable outcomes and manageable complication rates, with fusion as a viable salvage procedure.