Long-term Functional Outcomes and Quality of Life at Minimum 10 Year Follow-up after Fixed-Bearing Unicompartmental Knee Arthroplasty and Total Knee Arthroplasty for Isolated Medial Compartment Osteoarthritis

Abstract Background The aim of this study is to compare the long-term functional outcome and quality-of-life (QoL) between total knee arthroplasty (TKA) and fixed-bearing unicompartmental knee arthroplasty (UKA) for the treatment of isolated medial compartment osteoarthritis. Methods Between 2000 and 2008, a total of 218 patients underwent primary UKA at our tertiary hospital. A TKA group was matched through 1:1 propensity scoring (PSM) and adjusted for age, gender, body mass index, preoperative knee flexion and function scores. All patients had medial compartment osteoarthritis. The patients were assessed with range of motion, knee society knee (KSKS) and function (KSFS), Oxford knee score (OKS), Short-form 36 (SF-36) physical (PCS) and mental component scores (MCS) preoperatively, at 6 months, 2 years, and 10 years. Patients’ satisfaction, expectation fulfilment and minimal clinically important difference (MCID) were analysed. Results There were no differences in baseline characteristics between groups after PSM (p>0.05). UKA had greater knee flexion at all time points. Although KSFS was superior in UKA by 5.5, 3 and 4.3 points at 6 months, 2 years and 10 years respectively (p Conclusion UKA and TKA are excellent treatment modalities for isolated medial compartment osteoarthritis, with similar functional outcomes, QoL and satisfaction at 10 years.