Influence Of Femoral Implant Design Modification On Anterior Knee Pain And Patellar Crepitus In Patients Who Underwent Total Knee Arthroplasty

Anterior knee pain and patellar crepitus are the most common complications after knee arthroplasty.Improvements of the femoral component in the traditional prosthesis would theoretically reduce the incidence of these symptoms.Objective: This study was aimed to compare the rate of anterior knee pain and patellar crepitus after knee arthroplasty without patellar replacement between using traditional prostheses and using modern prostheses.Materials and methods: Between August 2016 and July 2017,202 patients who underwent primary TKAs in the Department of Bone and Joint Surgery,First Hospital of Jilin University were enrolled in this study.Sixty-two patients(85 knees)using the modern prosthesis and 62 age-matched and sex-matched patients(90 knees)using the traditional prosthesis participated in the study during 3-month and 1-year follow-up postoperatively.The incidences of anterior knee pain and patellar crepitus,Knee Society Scores were recorded.Statistical analyses were accomplished to determine if there were differences between the two groups.Results: The incidence of anterior knee pain was significantly lower in the study group compared with those in the control group at 3-month and 1-year follow-up(4.7% vs.13.3%,p = 0.048;3.5% vs.13.3%,p = 0.021,respectively).The incidence of patellar crepitus was significantly lower in the study group compared with those in the control group at 3-month and 1-year follow-up(34.4% vs.15.3%,p = 0.004;28.9% vs.10.6% at 1 year,p = 0.002,respectively).There was no significant difference in Knee Society Scores between two groups.Conclusion: Significant decreases in the incidence of anterior knee pain and patellar crepitus were observed in knee arthroplasty without patellar replacement using modern prostheses.