Various nationwide studies have reported differing annual trends in utilization of knee arthroplasty and tibial osteotomy. Using the Diagnosis Procedure Combination database in Japan, the present series examined annual trends and demographics in total knee arthroplasty (TKA), unicompartmental knee arthroplasty (UKA) and tibial osteotomy.
All patients were identified who underwent TKA, UKA or tibial osteotomy for osteoarthritis, osteonecrosis or rheumatoid arthritis of the knee between July 2007 and March 2015.
A total of 170,433 cases of TKA, 13,209 cases of UKA and 8760 cases of tibial osteotomy were identified. The proportion of patients undergoing UKA rose from 4.0% in 2007 to 8.1% in 2014 (P < 0.001), and that of tibial osteotomy from 2.6% in 2007 to 5.5% in 2014 (P < 0.001); the proportion undergoing TKA fell from 93.4% in 2007 to 86.3% in 2014 (P < 0.001). Between 2007 and 2014 the proportions of patients with osteonecrosis who underwent UKA and tibial osteotomy increased from 34.7% and 11.6% to 38.6% and 16.2%, respectively (P = 0.001 for UKA and P = 0.004 for tibial osteotomy). The proportions of patients with osteonecrosis undergoing UKA or tibial osteotomy were significantly greater than those with other diagnoses (P < 0.001 for both).
The popularity of UKA and tibial osteotomy in Japan increased during the period 2007–2014 at the expense of TKA. The proportions of UKA and tibial osteotomy in patients with osteonecrosis also increased, and were larger than those in patients with other causative diseases.