Knee replacements have become a common solution among elderly people due to the high prevalence of osteoarthritis. However, comparisons between the two main modes of arthroplasty, i.e. unicompartmental knee arthroplasty (UKA) and total knee arthroplasty (TKA) are lacking. A randomized trial published in The Journal of Bone & Joint Surgery has reported that UKA shortens the recovery time for selected patients with knee osteoarthritis compared to TKA.
The study involved 99 patients with knee osteoarthritis and was focused on two performance-based tests, namely the 2-minute walk test (2MWT) and the timed up-and-go test (TUG), which directly assesses physical function. Patients undergoing UKA showed better function starting at six weeks postoperatively, whereas the ones undergoing TKA took 3–6 months. The radiographic and clinical outcomes were found to be similar between groups. Moreover,…
