Unicompartmental Versus Total Knee Arthroplasty for Unicompartmental Knee Osteoarthritis

Dong Naijian; Wei Junjie; Ke Mingfeng; Lin Jiuzao; Huang Liuping

doi:10.3969/j.issn.1008-5572.2025.10.003

Abstract：Objective To compare the clinical efficacy of unicompartmental knee arthroplasty(UKA)and total knee arthroplasty(TKA)in the treatment of single compartment knee osteoarthritis(KO A).Methods A retrospective analysis was conducted on 100 patients[36 males,64 females;age 51～73 years,mean(61.78±8.59)years]who underwent surgery for unicompartmental KOA in Ningde Municipal Hospital Affiliated to Ningde Normal University from January 2021 to January 2024.Fifty patients received UKA and 50 received TKA.Peri-operative indices-including intra-operative blood loss,post-operative drainage,operation time,length of stay and time to first straight-leg raise—were recorded.Pain visual analogue scale(VAS),the hospital for special surgery(HSS)knee score and knee range of motion(ROM)were evaluated before surgery and at post-operatively.Complications such as venous thrombosis,joint stiffness/instability,swelling and infection were compared.Results Postoperative follow-up was≥12 months.All peri-operative indices were lower in the UKA group than in the TKA group(P＜0.05).VAS,HSS scores and ROM improved significantly in both groups compared with baseline(P＜0.05).VAS at 1 month was lower after UKA(P＜0.05);no inter-group difference was observed at 6 or 12 months(P＞0.05).ROM was consistently better in the UKA group at all time points(P＜0.05).HSS score at 12 months was higher after UKA(P＜0.05);the deduction item of the HSS scale was 0 in both groups.The 12-month complication rate was 6％after UKA versus 22％after TKA(P＜0.05).The complication rate(6.00％)of the UKA group is significantly lower than complication rate(22.00％)of the TKA group.Conclusion Compared with TKA,UKA for unicompartmental KOA is associated with less intra-operative blood loss,lower early post-operative pain,better knee ROM and fewer complications.