Background: Total knee arthroplasty is a successful elective orthopedic procedure with an increasing number being undertaken. Original knee arthroplasties used an all-polyethylene tibia; however, with concerns over tibial loosening, the trend moved toward the metal-backed variety. Modern designs providing more conformity and changes in manufacturing of the polyethylene make it an equivalent but cheaper option.
Methods: We analyzed the medium-term outcome in 1092 patients with an all-polyethylene tibial component in their total knee arthroplasty.
Results: Twenty-six patients had further surgery on their knee for a variety of reasons. Assessing reoperation for any reason, the 7-year survival rate was 96.96% with an overall infection rate of 0.37%. Seven-year survival analysis using aseptic loosening as a criteria was 99.28%. Both the Short Form 12 physical score and Western Ontario and McMaster Universities Osteoarthritis Index score significantly improved and was sustained at 7 years. Body mass did not correlate to either outcomes or complications.
Conclusion: An all-polyethylene tibia in a total knee arthroplasty has good outcome data and high patient satisfaction with good survivorship in the medium term, coupled with potential cost-saving benefits.
Keywords: all-polyethylene tibia; arthroplasty cost; outcome scores; survival analysis; total knee arthroplasty.
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