Previous History of Knee Arthroscopy in Patients Undergoing Total Knee Arthroplasty: An Examination of the Effect of the Literature and American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons 2013 Arthroscopy Guidelines on Clinical Practice

Purpose To compare the rate of previous knee arthroscopy in patients undergoing total knee arthroplasty (TKA) before (2005-2006) and after (2018) publication of landmark studies that examined the effectiveness of knee arthroscopy as well as the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons 2013 knee arthroscopy guidelines. Methods We performed a retrospective chart review of 214 patients who underwent a TKA between 2005 and 2006 (Group 1) and 213 patients who underwent a TKA in 2018 (Group 2). We reviewed medical records to determine whether previous knee arthroscopy was performed. Group comparisons were made using the t test for continuous data and the χ 2 test for categorical data, and means ± standard deviation are presented. Results Patients in Group 2 were older than those in Group 1 (67.0 ± 8.3 vs 64.3 ± 11.5 years, P = .01); however, there were no differences between groups with respect to sex (P = .40), body mass index (P = .36), and laterality of TKA (P = .05). There was no difference in the history of previous knee arthroscopy between Groups 1 and 2 overall (27% vs 32%, P = .27) and within 10 years of TKA (17% vs 15%, P = .44). Conclusions We did not find a difference in the number of previous knee arthroscopies for patients undergoing TKA in 2018 versus 2005-2006. This suggests that the recommendations set forth by landmark clinical trials that examined the effectiveness of knee arthroscopy and the AAOS 2013 knee arthroscopy guidelines did not have a sudden impact within our geographic region, but there is some evidence to suggest a gradual shift in treatment, where knee arthroscopy is withheld near imminent knee arthroplasty. Level of Evidence III, retrospective comparative study.