Outcome of posterior cruciate ligament-retaining primary total knee arthroplasty in arthritic patients

Background: The incidence of arthritis is rising in India due to increase in the proportion of ageing population and obesity. Cruciate retaining total knee arthroplasty (TKA) is a promising mode of treatment for end stage arthritis, with excellent functional outcome. Hence, we have evaluated the functional outcome of posterior cruciate ligament retaining TKA and the problems related to the procedure at our institute.Methods: This prospective study was conducted on 30 patients who underwent posterior cruciate ligament retaining primary TKA at a tertiary health care centre between December 2012 and May 2014. Patients were evaluated using Knee society score (knee score and function score) at regular follow up visits.Results: The study included TKA for 42 knees in 30 patients. Indications for TKA were osteoarthritis in 37 knees and rheumatoid arthritis in 5 knees. The average follow-up period was 24 weeks. All the 42 knees had poor knee score (<60) and poor functional score (<60) preoperatively. Postoperatively 37 knees had excellent (80-100) and 5 knees had good knee score (70-79) whereas 22 patients had excellent (80-100), 5 patients had good (70-79), 2 patients had fair (60-69) and 1 patient had poor functional score (<60). Conclusions: Our study demonstrates that posterior cruciate retaining TKA is a reliable procedure with excellent functional outcome, pain relief and early return of patients to their daily activities. Posterior cruciate retaining TKA provided excellent knee society score and functional score in majority of patients