Purpose: To compare clinical outcome of revision total knee arthroplasty (TKA) between the infected and non-infected groups.
Materials and methods: This study compared the clinical and radiographic results of 21 infected and 15 non-infected revision TKAs at a minimum 2-years follow-up. Clinical evaluations were assessed using the range of motion (ROM), Hospital for Special Surgery (HSS) score, Knee Society Knee Score (KSKS), Knee Society Function Score (KSFS), and Western Ontario and McMaster Universities (WOMAC) score. Radiologic evaluations were assessed using the radiographic results of the American Knee Society and joint line change.
Results: Patients operated for non-infectious causes had significantly better postoperative ROM than the infected group (infected group, 101.7°; non-infected group, 117.8°). The infected group achieved significantly poor HSS (79.2 vs. 85.5), KSKS (75.5 vs. 86.6), KSFS (76.9 vs. 85.5), WOMAC (30.3 vs. 21.2) scores than the non-infected group. Postoperative joint line elevation was lower in the infected versus non-infected group (0.5 mm vs. 2.1 mm), but there was no significant difference.
Conclusions: Revision TKA is an effective treatment that can provide successful results in the infected as well as non-infected patients. The overall results of non-infected revision were more satisfactory than infected revision.
Keywords: Infection; Non-infection; Revision total knee arthroplasty.