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BRIEF RESEARCH REPORT article

Front. Surg.
Sec. Orthopedic Surgery
Volume 11 - 2024 | doi: 10.3389/fsurg.2024.1470421

A Comparative Study of Single-Stage Bilateral vs. Unilateral Medial Unicompartmental Knee Arthroplasty on Complications, Clinical Outcomes, and Costs

Provisionally accepted
Kao-chang Tu Kao-chang Tu 1,2*Han-Ting Shih Han-Ting Shih 1Shun-Ping Wang Shun-Ping Wang 1Kun-Hui Chen Kun-Hui Chen 1
  • 1 Taichung Veterans General Hospital, Taichung, Taiwan
  • 2 National Chung Hsing University, Taichung, Taiwan

The final, formatted version of the article will be published soon.

    This retrospective study aimed to evaluate the short-term recovery and costeffectiveness of bilateral unicompartmental knee arthroplasty (UKA) compared to staged unilateral UKA. The study analyzed postoperative pain scores, medical costs, and complications in patients with knee osteoarthritis who underwent these procedures.A total of 226 patients who received either unilateral UKA (Group A, n=170) or bilateral UKA (Group B, n=56) using the mobile-bearing UKA were included in the study. Patient demographics, surgical details, postoperative pain scores, knee range of motion, length of hospital stay, self-controlled analgesic use, total medical costs, and complications were retrospectively collected from medical records.The demographic characteristics were comparable between the groups. Group B had a longer surgical time and higher medical costs than Group A. However, there were no significant differences in hospital stay, pain scores, or knee range of motion between the two groups. Complications were infrequent and not significantly different. Insert dislocation and loosening were the most common complications. Patient-controlled analgesia effectively reduced pain scores in Group A but not in Group B.Bilateral UKA does not significantly affect hospital stay, postoperative pain, or complications compared to unilateral UKA. Although bilateral UKA requires longer surgical time and incurs higher costs, it offers the potential benefit of reducing anesthesia-related complications and overall health insurance expenditures. This study recommends bilateral UKA as a suitable option for patients with bilateral knee osteoarthritis, given its comparable short-term outcomes and potential cost-saving advantages.

    Keywords: Unicompartmental knee arthroplasty, bilateral, unilateral, complications, clinical outcomes, and Costs Level of Evidence: III

    Received: 25 Jul 2024; Accepted: 09 Sep 2024.

    Copyright: © 2024 Tu, Shih, Wang and Chen. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

    * Correspondence: Kao-chang Tu, Taichung Veterans General Hospital, Taichung, Taiwan

    Disclaimer: All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.