The clinical effect of gender on outcome of total knee arthroplasty

J Arthroplasty. 2008 Apr;23(3):331-6. doi: 10.1016/j.arth.2007.10.031.

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to quantify the effect of sex on the clinical outcome and survivorship of a total knee arthroplasty (TKA) with clinical and radiographic follow-up. Seven thousand three hundred twenty-six primary AGC (Biomet, Warsaw, Ind) cruciate-retaining TKAs were performed from 1987 to 2004. Of these, 59.5% were performed on women. We examined preoperative and postoperative Knee Society knee score, function scores, pain scores, walking ability, stair-climbing ability, flexion, and implant survivorship based on sex. Female sex was associated with lower overall preoperative clinical scores for all parameters (P < .01). Improvement in Knee Society knee score and flexion was greater for women (P = .006), and there were equal pain relief and walking improvements for both sexes (P < .32). Stair and function score improvements were greater for men (P = .002). Implant survival was 98% for women and men at 15 years (P = .4684). We conclude that improvement after TKA is similar for men and women, with few clinically significant differences. Sex-specific implants would appear to offer no clinical advantage.

Publication types

  • Comparative Study

MeSH terms

  • Adult
  • Aged
  • Aged, 80 and over
  • Arthroplasty, Replacement, Knee*
  • Female
  • Humans
  • Knee Prosthesis
  • Male
  • Middle Aged
  • Osteoarthritis, Knee / surgery*
  • Prosthesis Failure
  • Sex Factors
  • Survival Analysis
  • Treatment Outcome