Bilateral total knee arthroplasties. Comparison of simultaneous (two-team), sequential, and staged knee replacements.

Simultaneous and sequential operations for bilateral total knee arthroplasties (TKA) for arthritis were examined for determination of the relative safety of each method. The postoperative morbidity was analyzed in three groups of patients who were similar with respect to age, sex, type of arthritis, preoperative range of motion, and postoperative management. Group I (22 patients) had both knees replaced simultaneously under one anesthesia. Group II (26 patients) had two operations staged about 17 days apart during a single hospitalization. Group III (20 patients) had TKA in two hospitalizations with the operations separated by about eight months. In this small series of cases there were fewer complications and a significantly shorter hospitalization in the group having simultaneous bilateral TKA.