Continuation of a Currently Available Primary Total Knee Arthroplasty System Design: 10-Year Follow-Up of Earlier Studies at 2- and 5-Years

BACKGROUND Studying and reporting the continuous, prospective outcomes of a post-surgical orthopaedic population without loss to follow-up at various standard landmarks over time is rarely achieved in total knee arthroplasty (TKA) literature. This is particularly true with TKA systems that are still available at the time of publication. The purpose of this study was to advance the knowledge base of the performance of Freedom® Knee system through the continuous monitoring of a previously reported early series TKA patient population. METHODS A prospective, continuous series of 176 primary posterior stabilized (PS) TKAs were performed in 172 patients by a single surgeon. An attempt to contact all patients by telephone was made for all patients at or near ten-years post-operatively. Survivability and current status of the component was collected (current versus revised). If there were any indications of adverse outcomes (pain, function, symptoms related to sepsis), the patients were encouraged to have a full clinical and radiographic assessment with the senior author. RESULTS There were 10 patients lost to follow-up, 3 patients died, 2 patients required incision and drainage for superficial wound infection of the indicated knees. One patient required tibial component and polyethylene insert revision following a motor vehicle accident resulting in a proximal tibial fracture and component loosening. In the remainder of the patients, there were no pre- or post-operative clinical or functional differences by gender at the recent follow-up. Patient contact revealed no reported adverse events or significant adverse events related to the TKA. CONCLUSIONS From these results we believe that continued use of this TKA design is recommended, and further study is warranted to confirm achieving similar results across surgeons, and to further study across multiple ancestral populations.