Unicompartmental knee arthroplasty (UKA) is an underutilized implant for medial tibiofemoral arthritis despite proven benefits in performance and reduced complications. This is likely related to registry recorded higher revision rates compared with total knee arthroplasty. It is our feeling that better component alignment resulting from the usage of computer-assisted surgery should improve longer-term functional results and survival of UKAs.
Between August 2003 and June 2007, 265 medial UKAs were performed in 264 consecutive patients using navigation.
Eighty-eight women and 176 men with an average age of 51.7 (±4.63) years were assessed for function and survival over a follow-up period of 92.6 (63-120) months (7.7 years). The final survival rate over 5 years for this cohort was 97.6% at 5 years.
We conclude that computer-assisted UKA, to treat medial tibiofemoral joint arthritis, produces 5-year survival rates that are comparable with total knee arthroplasty.