Association between body weight and proximal tibial bone mineral density after bilateral total knee arthroplasty

Proximal tibial bone mineral density (BMD) has been studied for its potential impact on subsidence and loosening of the tibial component after total knee arthroplasty (TKA). However, no known studies of proximal tibial BMD after TKA have evaluated the effect of major impact factors such as body weight (BW), muscle strength, and level of activity. We aim to determine whether factors such as level of activity, quadriceps strength, BW, gender, age, and prosthetic design affect proximal tibial BMD over the mid- to long-term following TKA.

We evaluated 36 patients (72 knees) who were undergoing bilateral TKA performed by a single surgeon. Median follow up time was 115 months (range, 60–211 months) for a minimum of five years. We measured BMD in the proximal tibia and used a hand-held dynamometer to measure quadriceps isometric strength, recording the maximum value of three measurements for each patient.

Univariate analyses using Spearman’s correlation coefficient for continuous variables revealed a weak negative correlation between age and BMD (r = −0.316, P = 0.007) and a moderate positive correlation between BW and BMD (r = 0.430, P < 0.001). However, no significant correlations were found between the other factors above and BMD for continuous and discrete variables. Based on multivariate analyses, only BW had a significant effect on BMD (β = 0.342, P = 0.003).

BW is the most impact factor on the proximal tibial BMD after mid- to long-term follow up TKA. Therefore, the management of BW may contribute to prevention of decline of tibial BMD for TKA patients owing to aging.