Unicompartmental Knee Arthroplasty (UKA)

Abstract

Knee osteoarthritis is degenerative disease of the joint that causes progressive loss of articular cartilage, while unicompartmental osteoarthritis is limited to medial or lateral compartment of the tibiofemoral joint with ligamentous or meniscal disruption in the affected compartment only. Osteoarthritis of the knee most commonly affects people over 40 years old, but it can occur at younger age group. Risk factors include articular trauma, repetitive knee bending and large body mass. Symptoms include mechanical knee pain, that increases with activity and decreased with resting, with some sort of knee stiffness and swelling. In late stages, knee pain may be persistent. Different surgical ways are suggested for knee osteoarthritis. These ways include High tibial osteotomy, which is suitable for medial compartment arthritis in younger age groups, unicompartmental knee arthroplasty, for older patients with intact cruciate ligaments and finally the total knee replacement, for end stage osteoarthritis. This study retrieved papers about unicompartmental knee arthroplasty and the showed overall excellent results regarding pain, range of motion and functional knee scoring, with high satisfaction rate and low complication rate.