Total condylar knee arthroplasty. A five-year follow-up study of 33 knees.

The authors report the results of a consecutive series of 37 total condylar prostheses inserted between 1975 and 1977 in 31 osteoarthritic and six rheumatoid arthritic knees. Prostheses were inserted in 33 usually low-activity patients with an average age of 65 years. There was a five-year minimum follow-up period for 33 knees. The clinical results, according to the Hospital for Special Surgery's knee rating system, were 21 excellent (64%), 7 good (21%), 3 fair (9%), and 2 poor (6%). The two poor results were due to tibial component aseptic loosening. The comparison between the tibial radiolucencies at two and five years showed only minor variations. At five years 75% of the knees had an absent or less than 30% lucency. Most of the mechanical problems occurred after a technically incorrect operation. Varus alignment was not well tolerated with the passage of time. There were no problems caused by the routine use of a patellar component.