Comparison of Trends and Complications of Unicompartmental Knee Arthroplasty Versus Periarticular Knee Osteotomy Among ABOS Part II Oral Examination Candidates.

BACKGROUND

While unicompartmental knee arthroplasty (UKA) and osteotomy procedures are commonly used to treat knee osteoarthritis, the differences in complication profiles between procedures are still poorly understood.

PURPOSE/HYPOTHESIS: The purpose of this study was to assess the trends and complication rates of UKA and periarticular knee osteotomy for knee osteoarthritis among newly trained surgeons by using the American Board of Orthopaedic Surgery (ABOS) Part II Oral Examination Case List database. It was hypothesized that more adult reconstruction fellowship-trained surgeons would perform UKA, while more sports medicine fellowship-trained surgeons would perform osteotomy, and that both procedures would have low rates of complications.

STUDY DESIGN

Cross-sectional study; Level of evidence, 3.

METHODS

The ABOS database was queried for patients who underwent UKA, high tibial osteotomy, and distal femoral osteotomy procedures in examination years 2011 to 2021. Patient characteristics, surgeon fellowship training history, surgeon-reported postoperative complications, and readmission and reoperation rates were recorded. Comparisons between the UKA and osteotomy groups were performed using independent tests and chi-square tests.

RESULTS

There were 2524 patients in the UKA group and 270 patients in the osteotomy group. The majority of newly trained surgeons performing UKA (70.5%) had fellowship training in adult reconstruction, while the majority of those performing osteotomy (57.8%) had fellowship training in sports medicine ( < .001). The incidence of UKA and osteotomy increased during the study period (18.8 UKAs and 1.8 osteotomies performed per 10,000 cases in 2011 vs 39.5 UKAs and 4.2 osteotomies performed per 10,000 cases in 2021). Rates were significantly higher for osteotomy compared with UKA regarding anesthetic complications (2.2% vs 0.6%; = .015), surgical complications (23.7% vs 7.3%; < .001), reoperation (5.2% vs 1.9%; = .002), and infection (6.7% vs 1.4%; < .001). There were no significant differences in rates of medical complication, readmission, deep vein thrombosis, pulmonary embolism, or stiffness/arthrofibrosis.

CONCLUSION

Among newly trained surgeons taking the ABOS Part II Oral Examination, the incidence of UKA and periarticular knee osteotomy increased over the past decade. Compared with UKA, complication rates were higher after osteotomy, with an overall surgical complication rate of 23.7%.