The short-term results of 3 common UKA implants during different periods in Sweden.

We studied 13,299 operations of 3 common unicompartmental implants inserted during 1984 to 2004 and compared their cumulative revision rate during different periods, as well as whether minimally invasive surgery (MIS) had been used. In this way, we tried to evaluate how the introduction of implants and approaches affected the short-term results. The oldest implant, the Link, had stable results over time. However, when used with MIS without adequate instruments or training, the results deteriorated. The initial Oxford results were disappointing (phase I and early phase II models). However, with time, the results improved substantially, even when the phase III version using MIS was introduced. For the Miller/Galante, there was significant improvement with time, and MIS was not found to affect the short-term results.