Long-term results of 56 revision total knee replacements

Fifty-six consecutive revised total knee arthroplasties (TKA) were followed for an average of 8.3 years (range: 3 to 15 years). The purpose of this study was to evaluate the results of revision TKA to determine any trends in either the good outcomes or the failures. We found that the success rate for revision TKA was comparable to that for primary TKA. Eighty-nine percent of the knees rated at least fair, with 73% of these rating good or excellent, and 4% poor result. Moreover, the findings suggest that if prostheses are aligned correctly at implantation, there is only slight deterioration in their performance over time. Outcome was not affected by the type of prosthesis used in either the previous surgery or the revision. There is a correlation between the number of revisions and the functional knee rating; the more revisions, the less chance for success. There was also a direct correlation between varus knee alignment and significant increased incidence of failure. No appreciable difference was found between degenerative arthritis patients and rheumatoid patients, except that the rheumatoid patients had a higher incidence of delayed infections.