Short-term results of the uncemented triathlon total knee arthroplasty: a large cohort single-centre comparative study

BACKGROUND

The purpose of this study is to assess the short-term survivorship of a new uncemented TKA design in a high-volume centre to evaluate the safety of this design prior to widespread adoption.

METHODS

We performed a retrospective cohort study of all primary TKAs (cemented and uncemented) between May 2018 and May 2019. Primary outcome variables included aseptic revision, all-cause revision, time to revision, operative time and radiological outcomes. Predictor variables considered included age, gender, BMI, ASA, implant type (cruciate-retaining, posterior-stabilised or totally-stabilised) and the use of cemented or uncemented implants.

RESULTS

There were 300 cemented TKAs and 249 uncemented TKAs (Triathlon, Stryker Inc., Mahwah, NJ) implanted. The mean follow-up for all cases was 31.6 months (minimum follow-up 2 years). Of the entire 549 implants only 4 were revised. Two of these were for infection, 1 was for patellar maltracking and 1 was for knee stiffness. All 4 revisions occurred in the cemented cohort. The aseptic revision rate in the cemented cohort was 0.7% compared to 0.0% in the uncemented cohort (p = 0.298). Operative times were significantly reduced in the uncemented cohort from 57.9 to 51.7 min (p < 0.001). There were 8/300 (2.6%) patients with RLLs in the cemented cohort and 4/249 (1.6%) patients with RLLs in the uncemented cohort (p = 0.56).

CONCLUSION

The uncemented Triathlon TKA demonstrates excellent survivorship at short-term follow-up when compared to the cemented Triathlon TKA, thus eliminating any potential clinical concerns with this novel implant in the early post-operative phase.

Uncemented or cemented femoral components work equally well in total knee arthroplasty

PURPOSE

To study the pattern of migration and clinical results up to 10 years of uncemented versus cemented fixation of the femoral component in total knee arthroplasty.

METHODS

Randomized controlled trial was conducted of 41 patients (23 women, 18 men) under the age of 60 years using radiostereometric analysis.

RESULTS

About two-thirds of the cemented implants and half of the uncemented implants stabilized between 2 and 10 years, while the remainder displayed a small annual increase of maximum total point motion of 0.09-0.10 mm/year. At 10 years there were no statistically significant differences in migration or clinical results between the groups.

CONCLUSION

Uncemented fixation with titanium fiber mesh coating of the femoral component in total knee arthroplasty works equally as well as cemented fixation up to 10 years. An annual migration of 0.1 mm seems compatible with excellent long-term performance.

LEVEL OF EVIDENCE

I.