Range of motion in total knee replacement.

This is a multicenter prospective clinical study using a modified Knee Society scoring system which evaluated the effect of age, gender, weight, preoperative range of motion and knee score, previous surgery, and modification of the posterior femoral condyle geometry on postoperative range of motion. The primary outcome variable was change in flexion. The data were collected from 5 surgeons using a single total knee system. The current study has 621 patients enrolled, of which 282 total knee replacements have followup of 12 months and 86 have followup of 24 months. Multivariate analysis was used to evaluate the data. The variables listed were examined as to their relationship to changes in flexion. Patients were divided into 3 groups: preoperative flexion less than 90 degrees, 91 degrees to 105 degrees, and greater than 105 degrees. When comparing the patients with preoperative motion less than 90 degrees to those with motion greater than 105 degrees, the first group improved 26 degrees more than the latter. They also improved 12 degrees more than the midrange group. The midrange group improved 14 degrees more than the upper range group. These values are all adjusted to eliminate differences due to the other variables. None of the other variables showed a significant correlation with the flexion outcome. To analyze the knee score, the group was also divided into 3 groups: preoperative score less than 27, 28 to 40, and greater than 40. The preoperative knee score was the best predictor of the postoperative knee score. The patients with preoperative knee scores below 27 improved 16 points more than those in the 27 to 40 range and 33 points greater than the greater than 40 group. To analyze functional evaluation, the patients were divided into 3 groups based on preoperative score: less than 40, 41 to 50, and greater than 50. Those in the less than 40 group improved 14 points more than the midrange group and 35 points more than the greater than 50 group. Analysis of delta range of motion and delta pain showed similar results. Age, weight, previous open surgical procedure, and altered femoral component contour, did not seem significantly correlated with changes in postoperative flexion. The best predictors of postoperative clinical results are the preoperative scores.