Press-fit condylar design total knee arthroplasty. Fourteen to seventeen-year follow-up.

BACKGROUND

The Press-Fit Condylar total knee arthroplasty implant design has been used by many orthopaedic surgeons over the last twenty years. The design has survived with relatively minor modifications and remains a popular implant system today. The present study represents the fourteen to seventeen-year results for our patients who were described in our previous report on the eight to ten-year results.

METHODS

The senior author performed 160 consecutive total knee arthroplasties with use of the Press-Fit Condylar cruciate-retaining device in 134 patients between 1986 and 1989. The mean age of the patients at the time of the index procedure was 70.5 years. Follow-up data were available for sixty-three of sixty-four surviving knees. Surviving patients were followed for a mean of 15.8 years. The knees were evaluated on the basis of Knee Society function and clinical scores, radiographs, and survivorship analysis.

RESULTS

The mean Knee Society function score was 65, and the mean clinical score was 89. The overall survival rate of the knee was 91.5% with revision for any reason as the end point and 97.2% with aseptic loosening as the end point. The rate of revision of the tibial insert because of wear-related aseptic loosening was 2.5%. We found no relationship between revision and the shelf life or method of sterilization of the polyethylene insert. Radiolucent lines were present in 62% (twenty-one) of thirty-four knees; all radiolucent lines were nonprogressive. None of the implants were loose according to the criteria of the Knee Society.

CONCLUSIONS

This long-term analysis indicates that the Press-Fit Condylar total knee implant is a successful implant system with excellent longevity.