Inferior outcomes of primary total knee arthroplasty in patients with rheumatoid arthritis compared to patients with osteoarthritis.

PURPOSE

The purpose of this study was to compare the functional outcomes, activity levels, mortalities, implant survival rates, and complications of total knee arthroplasty (TKA) in patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) with those in patients with osteoarthritis (OA) over a minimum 10-year follow-up period.

METHODS

Between January 2007 and December 2009, 90 TKAs performed in 57 patients with RA (RA group) were retrospectively reviewed and matched with a control group of 180 TKAs performed in 114 patients with OA. The functional outcomes (Knee Society Score), activity levels (Koval grade), mortalities, implant survival rates, and complications were compared between the two groups with a minimum 10-year follow-up period. The mean follow-up periods were 12.3 years in the RA group and 12.6 years in the OA group.

RESULTS

The mean Knee Society knee scores in the RA and OA groups improved from 37.7 ± 5.4 to 38.2 ± 5.3 preoperatively to 72.9 ± 22.8 to 83.1 ± 11.0 points, respectively, at the final follow-up (p < 0.05). At the final follow-up, 38 of 48 (79.2%) in the RA group and 105 of 109 (96.3%) in the OA group (p < 0.05) were outdoor ambulatory patients. The cumulative mortality rates in the RA and OA groups were 15.8% (9/57) and 4.4% (5/114) (p < 0.05) at the final follow-up, respectively. Kaplan-Meier survivorship analysis with revision of either component as an endpoint in the RA and OA groups estimated 94.4% and 98.3% chance of survival for 10 years, respectively.

CONCLUSION

TKA in patients with RA had worse functional outcomes and higher mortality over a minimum 10-year follow-up period, compared with TKA in patients with OA.

LEVEL OF EVIDENCE

IV.