Diabetes mellitus does not negatively impact outcomes and satisfaction following unicompartmental knee arthroplasty in well-controlled disease

Background

Unicompartmental knee arthroplasty (UKA) has gained popularity in recent years in view of its minimally invasive nature and proven benefits over the traditional total knee arthroplasty (TKA) in terms of superior knee range of motion and kinametics, faster recovery, lower blood loss, shorter hospital stay and ease of revision with the preservation of bone stock.

With the increasing incidence of diabetes mellitus (DM) worldwide and an increased risk of deep infection, wound complications and early failure previously shown in diabetic patients undergoing TKA, it is prudent that we establish the impact of DM on the outcomes and complications of UKA given that there is little on the topic in the current literature.

This is especially significant in Asia as Asia is home to more than 60% of the world’s population of diabetic patients with estimates of more than 200 million people having the condition. Type 2 DM in particular, is an increasing epidemic with projections to increase by more than 150% between year 2000 and 2035.

The purpose of this study is to evaluate the impact of diabetes mellitus on the outcomes and satisfaction of UKA at 2 years postoperatively. We hypothesize that diabetes mellitus does not affect the outcomes and satisfaction following UKA in Asians at 2 years postoperatively.