Primary Total Knee Arthroplasty in Morbidly Obese Patients

Abstract This retrospective study examined the results of 39 total knee arthroplasties in morbidly obese patients with 5- to 14-year follow-up compared with a case-controlled group of nonobese patients. All surgeries were performed by the 2 authors in a single institution using similar techniques. Although we found a somewhat higher rate of minor wound complications, suboptimal alignment, and late revision (5%) in the morbidly obese group compared with the case-controlled group, overall, the problems in morbidly obese patients have been relatively few thus far. The substantial improvement in scores and high rate of patient satisfaction (85%) suggests that total knee arthroplasty should continue to be offered to morbidly obese patients. Techniques that can increase the accuracy of alignment may be especially useful in this group of patients.